March 28, 2024

Super Bowl LIII concluded the 2018 NFL season. The two teams that made it to the Super Bowl were the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots. A majority of the world was rooting for the Rams to take down the Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick and quarterback, Tom Brady.

Regardless of which team hoisted up the Lombardi trophy, history would have been made. If the LA Rams would have won, their head coach Sean McVay would have been the youngest head coach to win, at just 33 years old.

If the Patriots won, Belichick would’ve became the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl, at the age of 66. Tom Brady would also claim his sixth Super Bowl ring. This year’s Super Bowl game is a rematch from Super Bowl XXXVI. In Super Bowl XXXVI the Patriots and Tom Brady won their first championship. At the time, the Rams were known as the Saint Louis Rams, before later moving the team to Los Angeles.  

Super Bowl LIII was projected to be very explosive and high scoring. The LA Rams were described as one of the best offensive teams in the league due to their powerful running game led by Todd Gurley and post season heroics by backup star CJ Anderson.

The Rams averaged 32.9 points per game in the regular season. The Rams had the second highest average in the league next to the Kansas City Chiefs, scoring 19.7 points per game in the post season. The Patriots also had very explosive weapons in their lineup, in the form of slot receiver Julian Edelman, tight end Rob Gronkowski and rookie sensation Sony Michel. The Patriots averaged 27.2 points in the regular season, which ranked them fifth in the league. In the post season, the Patriots were ranked the number one offensive team in the league while averaging 30.3 points.   

With all these offensive weapons, the majority of viewers who watched the game were very disappointed at its ending. They were disappointed for a variety of reasons; one, there was lack of offensive scoring and the New England Patriots won their sixth championship. The Patriots organizations are now tied with the Pittsburg Steelers as the franchise with the most Super Bowl wins.

This contest ended as the lowest scoring game in Super Bowl history. Before running back, Michel, scored the only offensive touchdown of the game, the game was tied three to three.  His run came with less than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Many people were surprised that the Patriots defense was able to contain the Rams offensive attack to only three points. This was the same defense that gave up 31 points to squeak by Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime for the AFC championship game.

Viewers who thought the game was boring, you cannot blame the offense. Both teams watched film on each other and tried to learn the most effective ways to score on their opponent, as well as to prevent their opponents from getting to the end zone. The defense made it a great game to watch. Many fans find incessant scoring appealing. However, when points are not being scored as much, the game actually gets more intriguing, making every possession feel more valuable.

You must give credit to the Patriots defensive line and their coaching staff for eliminating the Rams offensive game. The Rams thrive off their successful running game. Once their running game is established, it allows their quarterback, Jared Goff, some time to pass the ball into his playmaker’s hands. Once the passing game is going, this is when play action does the most damage to teams.

The defensive line was able beat the Rams offense off the line to eradicate the Rams running game. The Patriots secondary played an excellent game as they were able to deflect well-placed passes by Goff out of receiver’s hands. The majority of the pass deflections occurred on third down and Rams had to punt the ball away. Other than their drive when they scored a field goal, this happened on every Rams possession.

Low scoring games show how much coaching can influence a game and how players can execute in a given plan.

Offensive games create excitement and tickets, but at the end of the day, defense wins games, as well as championships.

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