The Student Association (SA) hosted a Super Bowl viewing party, complete with bleachers to watch the game and pizza to eat. Fans came out in droves to support, or root against, the Patriots and Rams. Nearly every positive play for either team was met with raucous cheers and/or boos making for an exceptional viewing environment. Fortunately for Patriots fans, they stood victorious once more at the final whistle.
Considering these two teams were third and fourth in scoring offense this season, one could have reasonably predicted a high scoring game. The score over/under was set at 56 before the game, and it would have been fairly reasonable to bet the over. If you did, though, you were probably shocked and disappointed with what unfolded.
The Patriots eked out a 13-3 win over the vaunted Rams offense, stifling Jared Goff on nearly every play it seemed. Goff reverted back to the player we saw before McVay got involved: missing throws (including a wide-open touchdown in the second half) and making inexplicable decisions with the ball. In fact, Goff taking a sack nearly caused them not to get any points.
As for the Patriots, they did just enough to win. Thirteen points don’t win you many Super Bowls (although that score beat the Rams again back in 2001), and in today’s league, it won’t win you many games period.
The story of this game was defense and bad quarterback play. Tom Brady threw an interception on the first pass of the game, the first time in his postseason career he’s ever done that, and couldn’t seem to get a good read of what Los Angeles was doing defensively.
Nowadays, Brady doesn’t necessarily have to carry the load on offense anymore. He finished 21/35 with 262 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. Sony Michel, rookie running back out of Georgia, carried 18 times for 94 yards and the only touchdown. Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman notched 10 catches for 141 yards.
For most of the game, despite being down only 3-0, the game felt out of reach for the Rams. Offensive ineptitude found them on every single drive, resulting in a punt on their first eight drives. That was then followed by a field goal, a punt, an interception and a missed field goal with five seconds remaining.
However, despite the ostensible gap in the scoreboard, the Rams found themselves tied with the Patriots with two minutes remaining in the third quarter. The knockout punch came when the Rams drove down the field, trailing now 10-3, and Goff threw an interception with 2:43 remaining in the game. This title makes Brady/Belichick the most dominant coach/quarterback duo in history. Their six titles together are more than 28 other teams and tied with Pittsburgh for the most outright.
In an offense-driven league (the four final teams were the top four in points scored) this game was very much an anomaly. What’s that old saying? Oh, yeah. Defense wins championships.