The Super Bowl wasn’t the most fascinating performance offensively but the New England Patriots held the second best scoring team in the league to a measly three points.
Tom Brady managed to achieve Super Bowl history again capturing a league record sixth Super Bowl victory.
The 1999 sixth round pick vs the 2016 number one overall pick. Goat vs great. However you put it or seem to say it, Tom Brady comes up big when it matters most. This was evident in Super Bowl 51 when he led the Patriots to a win after being down 25 points to defeat the Atlanta Falcons. Now Brady is just cementing his legacy as he has been too good too often for the better part of 18 years and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Brady, 41, has been proving NFL staticians and analysts wrong all season, who claimed the Patriots were on a downslide after years of comfortably coasting through the regular season. Even in the twilight of his career Brady still is playing at an elite level.
This Super Bowl might not have been exciting for many fans but the defensive performance by both teams was magnificent. New England’s defense allowed three points in four quarters from a top five NFL offense and started the game by forcing Los Angeles to punt eight straight times. They also forced an interception by Stephon Gilmore in the fourth quarter.
The Rams defense played great throughout even in defeat as they intercepted Brady’s first pass attempt. They put pressure on Brady early and often although it only amounted to one sack. They held a Bill Belichick team to 13 points in a Super Bowl, the lowest amount of points allowed to a Belichick Super Bowl team.
The three points the Rams amassed was 30 points under their average in the regular season. If it weren’t bad enough, the Rams scored zero points in the first half, which was the 13th time in Super Bowl history a team has done this. Those teams combined record is now 0-13.
Rams running backs Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson were also held to just 57 yards rushing combined. The Patriots’ Sony Michel had 94 yards on 18 carries and the games lone touchdown.
It seems New England has found their running back of the future in 2018 first round pick Sony Michel. Michel has been an under the radar rookie with 931 rushing yards on the season while tacking on another 50 receiving yards.
In the playoffs, Michel recorded 336 yards while only starting two out of the three games. Michel also set a rookie record with six rushing touchdowns in the playoffs. Michel has given New England a great running game. Jake Rowe, 247 Sports Writer, also pointed out how the rookie Michel is only a couple touchdowns away from joining an NFL Hall of Fame running back in postseason history.
“Sony Michel is two touchdowns from the all time record Terrell Davis holds with 8 postseason touchdowns.”
The most surprising story out of this Super Bowl is that Brady looks like he can accomplish his goal which is to continue playing until his age 45 season. He might just do it, with the exception of a torn ACL in the 2008 season and a four game suspension to start the 2017 season, Brady hardly has missed any games as a starter.
The NFC champion Rams look to be in a great position going forward with third year Pro Bowl quarterback Jared Goff, who has his whole career ahead of him. He also has All-Pro Todd Gurley and the reigning two-time defensive player of the year in Aaron Donald. Goff has now led this Rams team to two playoff appearances and now one Super Bowl appearance since the team returned to Los Angeles in 2016.
Nevertheless to end the 2018 season New England has now won their sixth championship this decade which is one-third of all championships this century. They are now tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers with the most Super Bowl victories in NFL history.
Lastly, at the age of 41 Brady has put the league on notice. Again.
