Pats didn’t win so much as Rams beat themselves, they blew their chances ... Robey-Coleman makes the deflection on Brady’s pick
ATLANTA — For 53 minutes of Super Bowl 53, the only real offensive highlights belonged to the L.A. Rams. One was a 65-yard punt by
Johnny Hekker that was the longest in Super Bowl history. The other was a 53-yard field goal by Greg (The Leg)
Zuerlein that was the second longest in Super
Bowl history.
The Rams should have had a third highlight, which would have been the Highlight of the Night to that point. Just before “The Leg” tied the score, ex-Patriots receiver Brandin Cooks made himself invisible and ran to the back of the New England end zone. Jared Goff lofted a long, lazy pass to him that arrived a split second before Patriots corner Jason McCourty. Cooks should have made the catch but the ball slipped out of his hands.
That’s it, that’s all. It was that kind of 53 minutes. The Patriots had made some plays to that point — mostly Julian Edelman sneaking around coverage to the solidify himself as the second greatest post-season receiver in NFL history while also surpassing the 100 yard mark, and a couple of nice Sony Michel runs that faded from the memory with his dropped passes. But it wasn’t until there was just over seven minutes left did they do anything concrete. It was at that point that Tom Brady and
Rob Gronkowski recaptured their magic with two passes that set up a Michel touchdown that more or less sealed the victory.
Sure, the Rams had a chance to get back in it. One Goff to Cooks pass near the goal line looked like it should have been caught — the defender did appear to get his hand on Cooks’ arm — but your best receiver needs to be clutch with a clutch there.
Moments later. Goff was throwing a red zone interception and the Rams worn-out defence just couldn’t stop the run any longer, and the Patriots were being awarded their sixth Lombardi Trophy.
But the take here is they didn’t win it as much as the Rams lost it. Sean McVay’s offence, the second best in the league during the season, couldn’t beat Bill Belichick’s defence.
Belichick also beat the NFL’s No. 1 offence in the AFC Championship, completely shutting down another young quarterback, Patrick
Mahomes, in the first half. But of all the Pats’ Super Bowl victories, this was the least impressive. They really didn’t do anything for 53 minutes on offence, and the just didn’t enough to confuse a nervous 24-year-old kid.
NOTES AND VIEWS
At kickoff it was 59 F (15 C) and the skies were clear. Unfortunately, the skies were also over a closed MercedesBenz Stadium roof, ruining a perfect night to sit outside and watch a football game … Deferring after winning the toss turned out to be dumb decision by the Chiefs, but that did not deter the Rams from going the same route. They were almost immediately stung by it, too, as
Cordarrelle Patterson took the kick to the Pats 40 before he was pushed out of bounds by kicker Greg Zuerlein … The Pats opening drive came to a halt at the Rams 27, when it didn’t take long for Nickell
Robey-Coleman to put his mark on the game. The Rams corner, whose words were “misconstrued” when he was quoted as saying “age is taking its toll” on Tom Brady, deflected the quarterback’s first pass of the game — right to linebacker Cory Littleton.
It was the sixth Super Bowl interception of Brady’s career …. On the Pats next possession, Robey-Coleman did a great job of anticipating a screen to Rex Burkhead on a third down. New England was going to be punting from deep in its own zone had Robey-Coleman not been flagged on a weak unnecessary roughness call that understandably had the Rams bench furious … That flag on Robey-Coleman was just a few minutes of game time late for the New Orleans Saints … With that gift from the officials,
the Patriots drove downfield to where Brady mysteriously handed the ball to James
White on an obvious passing play, third-and-nine. Stopped short, the usually reliable Stephen Gostkowski was wide left on a 46-yard field goal attempt. In other words, it was (a should have been) no foul, no harm for Robey-Coleman.
IN OTHER WORDS
How did Gladys Knight do with the national anthem anyway? On the other side of the thick press box glass we could barely hear her. Or what the atmosphere created by the crowd was like, for that matter …. Of all the predictions over the past week, never once did I hear 0-0 after one quarter … Also, in the Who Will Get The Rams First Sack Pool, most people had Aaron Donald, some had Dante Fowler and a couple picked Ndamukong Suh.
Pretty sure John Franklin-Myers went undrafted, but lo and behold …. While it was more of a coverage sack (Brady had all sorts of time), it was registered as the third of the season for the 22-year old rookie, who played all games but started none …. Donald looked like an angry man the way he threw Brady to the turf just after he had thrown the ball. Expected to see a flag.
DISTRACTIONS
From what I’m hearing, the half time show was just as bad as the first half. … How is it that such a high powered offence like the Rams was blanked in the first half. Well,
Jared Goff was good on 5-of12 passes for 52 yards, while
Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson each rushed for only 10 yards, on three and four carries, respectively. That’s how … The way Rob Gronkowski was chopped down by a Littleton/Mark Barron sandwich while making the catch that set up the first points of the game is the kind of stuff that will probably now lead to his retirement. If there was a cartoon bubble over his head as he slowly hobbled off the field, it would have contained the words “I don’t need this crap anymore.”
PERSONALLY SPEAKING
Sampled the collard greens at both the pre-game media meal and the night before at PittyPat Porch, which is a true “southern dining” experience. In both places they tasted the same — like very salty brussel sprouts … Not that we could tell during the game, but the crowd heavily favoured the Patriots. The first indication was all the loud and obnoxious Bostonians in the restaurants and bars on the weekend. The second was all the Patriots jerseys, with a few folks even wearing Brady’s No. 10 Michigan jersey.
EXTRA POINTS
It was the second lowest scoring first half in Super Bowl history. Still holding that distinction is Super Bowl IX, in 1975, when the Pittsburgh Steelers led the Minnesota Vikings 2-0 at the intermission. It ended 16-6, Steelers, and no, a defensive player was not named the MVP. That honour went to Pittsburgh running back
Franco Harris, who was pretty much the entire offence on that day with 34 carries for 158 yards and a touchdown …. Hurley eclipsed his opening half production with his first carry of the second — a 16-yarder up the middle. For the first time since the Dallas game, he didn’t look like he was playing injured … The Patriots lost safety Patrick
Chung for the night with an “arm injury”