BY GEORGIA, THIS SHOULD BE A PEACH
Can’t wait until Sunday night, huh? That’s when the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots square off in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. Once again, to kick off Super Bowl week, here are 53 fun facts and figures related to the NFL title tilt. As always, these nuggets are for entertainment purposes only. No wagering, please. 1
Number of Super Bowl victories by the Rams, whether based in Los Angeles or St. Louis (19952015). The one big win came after the 1999 season, when the St. Louis Rams knocked off the Tennessee Titans 23-16.
2
Number of previous Super Bowls played in Atlanta, both at the now-defunct Georgia Dome. The first one, after the 1993 season, saw Dallas drub Buffalo 30-13. The second one after the 1999 season. So, yeah, the Rams won their only Super Bowl here. This year’s game is at the yearold Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
3
Number of Rams players who have been on a Super Bowl champion team: running back C.J. Anderson (Denver, 2015), cornerback Sam Shields (Green Bay, 2010) and defensive back Aqib Talib (Denver, 2015).
4
Number of times New England quarterback Tom Brady has been named MVP of the Super Bowl in the Patriots’ five championship wins during his starting tenure going back to 2001.
5
Numbers of rushing touchdowns this post-season by Patriots running back Sony Michel. That’s an NFL record for rookies in a single playoff year.
6
Largest margin of victory of the Patriots’ five Super Bowl wins this century. That came two years ago, when the Pats knocked off the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime.
7
Number of Super Bowl rematches: Patriots-Rams (who first met after the 2001 season), Dolphins-Redskins, Steelers-Cowboys, 49ers-Bengals, Cowboys-Bills, Patriots-Giants, Patriots-Eagles.
8
Number of retractable ceiling panels that, when closed, constitute the dome atop Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It opens and closes in 12 minutes. The entire octagonal roof structure weighs 55 million pounds.
9
Number of Super Bowl starts by Brady after Sunday. John Elway (with five) is the only other quarterback with more than four.
10
The Patriots’ positive turnover differential in 2018, which ranked fifth in the NFL.
11
The Rams’ positive turnover differential in 2018, which ranked fourth in the NFL.
12
Number of Super Bowls Bill Belichick will have coached in after this year’s game, including nine as head coach. That’s 23 per cent of all of the 53 Super Bowls played. Dan Reeves is second, having coached in seven Super Bowls.
13
Number of multiple-touchdown rushing performances by Rams running back Todd Gurley since 2015. In that span, no other NFL running back has more than eight.
14
Expected high outdoor temperature (Celsius) for Super Sunday, according to my iPhone’s long-range forecast. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium roof is expected to be closed.
15
Number of opponent drives of five-plus minutes allowed by the Rams and Patriots defences in 2018, tied for fewest in the NFL.
16
Jersey number of Jared Goff, the third-year Rams quarterback who is now 2-1 as a playoff starter. He’s the fifth Super Bowl quarterback to wear that number after Kansas City’s Len Dawson (SB I and IV), Oakland’s Jim Plunkett (SB XV and XVIII), San Francisco’s Joe Montana (SB XVI, XIX, XXIII and XXIV) and Miami’s David Woodley (XVII).
17
Jersey number worn only three times by a starting Super Bowl quarterback: Washington’s Billy Kilmer (lost SB VII), Washington’s Doug Williams (won SB XXII) and Carolina’s Jake Delhomme (lost SB XXXVIII).
18
Most career Super Bowl touchdown passes thrown by one quarterback. Do we even need to say it? Yes, Brady.
19
The Patriots this season have allowed this many points or fewer eight times, including the playoffs. The Rams, six times.
20
Number of fake-punt passes that Rams punter Johnny Hekker has attempted in his seven-year career, including playoffs. He has completed 12 for 168 yards and one touchdown. Last week at New Orleans, he completed a fake-punt throw for 12 yards for a crucial L.A. first down.
21
Number of Rams players new to the team in 2018. That’s 40 per cent of the roster.
22
Number of passes defended by John Johnson III of the Rams, second fewest among NFL safeties since 2018.
23
Number of first downs by passing New England amassed in the Super Bowl two years ago, which broke their Super Bowl record set two years earlier. But that new record lasted one year as Brady and the Pats compiled 26 last year against Philadelphia.
24
Age of Goff in years. He’s one of the youngest quarterbacks ever to start a Super Bowl game.
25
Can you believe it? The number of years since the last of the Buffalo Bills’ record four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s. A quarter-century ago. Never mind that the Bills lost all four. Three came against generationally great teams. It’s hard to see any club (well, other than probably next year’s Patriots) ever again winning a conference championship in four straight years.
26
Number of Patriots players (nearly half of their 53-man roster) who weren’t on the team when it rallied to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI two years ago. But that means 27 Pats players have won a Super Bowl compared to the Rams’ three.
27
Number of playoff games Patriots placekicker Stephen Gostkowski has appeared in. Among all NFL players, only three have played in more: Brady (39), Adam Vinatieri (32) and Jerry Rice (29).
28
Number of career 100-yard receiving games by Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots, second most by a tight end in NFL history. Only Tony Gonzalez (31) has more.
29
Number of playoff wins by Brady. Also the all-time number of post-season games played by the Rams franchise (since its founding in Cleveland in the 1930s) after Sunday.
30
Sets of brothers who now have reached the Super Bowl with safety Devin McCourty and cornerback Jason McCourty of the Patriots reaching it together this year. It’s Devin’s fifth Super Bowl, Jason’s first. They’re identical twins.
31
Number of points per game the Rams offence has averaged over the last two regular seasons under Sean McVay. That’s No. 1 in the NFL.
32
Number of touchdown passes Goff threw in the regular season, tied for sixth, which was three more than Brady threw.
33
Age in years of McVay. He turned 33 on Jan. 24, making him the youngest head coach in Super Bowl history. And he was raised in Atlanta. He’s exactly half the age of New England’s Belichick, who at 66 would be the oldest winning Super Bowl coach with a victory Sunday.
34
The Rams, in each game in 2018, averaged more than seven plays of 20-plus yards in all phases of the game combined, including this many in the third quarter alone.
35
Number of rushes Rams running back Gurley had for 10 or more yards in 2018, second only to Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott’s 41.
36
Record number of all-time NFL playoff wins, shared by the Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers.
37
Including the playoffs, the Patriots this season have scored at least this many points seven times, including in their last three games going back to the regular-season finale. While the Rams averaged more points per game on the season (33 to the Pats’ 27), they scored 37-plus points on two fewer occasions.
38
Number of points the Rams scored against Minnesota in a 38-31 win in September, the most the Vikings allowed to any foe all season. The Rams also scored the most points on San Francisco (48), Kansas City (54) and Seattle (36).
39
To give you a sense of how much better Brady is when wide receiver Julian Edelman is in the lineup, the Patriots have won this many games out of 39 (yup, all of them) when playing at home against AFC teams.
40
Most points allowed by the Patriots in any game this season, to Kansas City, in a 43-40 New England win.
41
Age in years of Brady, the oldest non-kicker to play in a Super Bowl game.
42
Age in years of the oldest player to suit up in a Super Bowl: Colts placekicker Matt Stover in Super Bowl XLIV, following the 2009 season.
43
Brady’s single-game Super Bowl record for completions, set two years ago in the comeback win against Atlanta. He attempted 63 passes.
44
Number of consecutive years Belichick has been coaching in the NFL. That’s second in NFL annals only to Dick LeBeau’s 45.
45
Rams’ third-down conversion percentage in the regular season, which ranked fifth in the NFL.
46
Number of career rushes by Patriots wide receiver Edelman. He has gained 364 yards on those runs. He has been known to throw a pass or two in big games, too, as he played quarterback at Kent State University.
47
Percentage of punts the Rams’ Hekker has dropped inside the 20 over the last two years, No. 1 in the NFL.
48
Number of points Jon Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers scored on his former team, the Oakland Raiders, in winning Super Bowl XXXVII 48-21.
49
Number of years Rams defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips has been coaching, the last 41 of them in the NFL.
50
Incredibly, the sum of incomparable Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s quarterback hits (41) and forced fumbles (nine) in 2018. Donald also had 20.5 sacks for an NFL season-record 183.5 sack yards.
51
Number of points the Rams allowed to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in that memorable 5451 Monday Night Football win on Nov. 19. In six of 16 regular-season games, the Rams defence surrendered at least 30 points.
52
How much has passing improved since the ’70s? Terry Bradshaw quarterbacked four Steelers teams to Super Bowl championships that decade and this was his career completion percentage — nowhere near good enough to get you signed today.
53
The Atlanta Falcons’ Super Bowl losers share, per player, in thousands of dollars after blowing that 28-3 third-quarter lead against the Patriots two years ago. The loss cost each Falcons player US$54,000 as the winners’ share was US$107,000 per player. Not that anybody here wants to be reminded of that all week. Even though they surely will.