Super Bowl 53: Patriots Prevail in Super 'Boring' Bowl 13-3

To say that the Rams offense sputtered and that their head coach -- Sean McVay -- was out-coached by Bill Belichick is an understatement as the Patriots prevailed 13-3 in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever.

The Patriots grinded out a 13-3 in perhaps the most boring Super Bowl game ever to capture their 6th Lombardi Trophy and tie the Pittsburgh Steelers for the .

Heading into the fourth quarter, Super Bowl 53 was knotted at 3-3. Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski made a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter. Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein made a 53-yard field goal in the third quarter.

On the only decent drive of the game, rookie running back Sony Michel scored on a 2-yard TD run with seven minutes remaining for a 10-3 Patriots lead. The highlight of the 5 play 69-yard drive was Tom Brady's pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski which resulted in a 29-yard gain. And just when it seemed that the Rams offense had woken up from their slumber, the Patriots defense rose to the occasion and preserved the lead. Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore intercepted a deep pass by Rams quarterback Jared Goff intended for wide receiver Brandin Cooks with 4:17 left. A few plays earlier, Patriots safety Safety Duron Harmon had broken up a near-certain TD catch by Cooks. Gilmore's interception eventually led to Gostkowski's 41-yard field goal with 1:12 to play.

Tom Brady on the victory:

    "We grinded it out. It was tough, they made every play tough tonight. I give them a lot of credit, Coach (Wade) Phillips, all those players. They played really well on defense, fortunately our defense really played the best game they have all season. It was just an incredible win."

Sean McVay's Opening postgame statement:

    "First off, congratulations to the Patriots. They did a great job. Coach [Bill] Belichick did an outstanding job. There is really no other way to put it. I'm pretty numb right now, but definitely, I got out-coached. I didn't do nearly good enough for our football team. The thing that is so tough about all of this is the finality to it. Usually, you get a chance -- if you go through some adversity, you can bounce back right away. This one is going to stick with you and it just stings in your gut. Like I said, I'm still kind of numb right now, but I have so much love for these players and these coaches. That is where it really eats at you because you feel like you didn't do your part to help them achieve success."

Was Sean McVay out-coached? Absolutely.

Out-coached to the point where his team could only muster 3 points? Absolutely not.

The Rams defense played well enough worthy of a Super Bowl championship. McVay's offensive play-calling was spot on ... His second half adjustments on offense made sense -- McVay effectively negated Belichick's to audible from the sidelines when he kept the Rams huddled until there were 15 seconds or less left on the play clock. When the play clock gets past 15 seconds, coaches can no longer communicate with their players on the field (Thanks Tony Romo).

The root cause? Jared Goff

Rams' quarterback Jared Goff stats were soooo ugly!

How ugly were they?

Goff was 19 of 38 for 229 yards and one interception (QB rating 57.9), plus four sacks. Talk about a letdown. The Rams rushing "attack" was none the better either as Gurley and Anderson combined for a meager 47 yards on 22 carries.

According to ESPN 45 percent of the Rams plays went for zero or negative yards — the second-highest percentage for the Rams this season, after a 15-6 loss to the Bears in Week 14. LA whiffed on its first eight third-down opportunities, and Goff finished 3-of-10.

"Deer in Headlights" syndrome explains it best. It's as if they never showed in the first place.

Give the Patriots some credit?

Probably. Begrudgingly, yes.

Alright. Credit a dominant performance by who caught 10 passes for 141 yards, and rookie running back Sony Michel who scored Super Bowl 53's lone touchdown with 8 minutes left in the game. Michel rushed for 94 yards on 18 carries.

Edelman on his MVP performance:

    "Just try to get open. Your job as a receiver is to get open and catch the ball and block in the run game. My name was called, I was asked to make a couple plays and we were able to do that. There were a lot of plays by other guys. The defense was unreal holding that offense to three points. It is pretty crazy. They should be the MVP -- the whole [defense]."

Despite the actual game being a clunker, we can be thankful to the NFL masterminds who have that it is.

Kudos to CBS Super Bowl announcers Jim Nantz and Tony Romo.

Albeit, Tony Romo wasn't the soothsayer he was during the AFC Championship game, the former Cowboys quarterback turned color analyst kept us engaged with his narrative

 

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Kudos to the NFL's NFL100 Ad

The celebration of the NFL's 100th season kicked off at Super Bowl LIII with a two-minute ad that aired before the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show.

 

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Kudos to the Pepsi Halftime Show

Not the best-ever Super Bowl Halftime show, but still an above average performance

 

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Kudos to Budweiser

Of course their selling beer, but give them credit for some level of socially responsible advertising. Also, did not know that other beers use corn syrup. Bud Light's Super Bowl ads called out competitors that use corn syrup. Of course, the corn lobby was not happy. Double kudos to Bud Light pointing out something we shouldn't be ingesting in the first place.

More Super Bowl 53 ...

NFL Football: "Super Bowl 53: Patriots Prevail in Super 'Boring' Bowl 13-3"