Super Bowl: Six numbers that show just how ugly the big game really was
Super Bowl LIII was a weird game, which is kinder than saying it was a boring game.
Still, through 53 minutes of game time, the only two scoring plays were field goals. For such a low-scoring game, there were only two turnovers, with one coming so early in the night that it was easy to forget.
Tom Brady, now 6-3 in Super Bowls, threw for 262 yards — not shabby — but didn’t look anywhere near masterful. Rob Gronkowski, that freak of a man, only had one memorable catch. The lone touchdown was an anticlimactic two-yard run. Bah, humbug. The Rams’ offence promised to be explosive. It was not: 260 total yards; until the fourth quarter just six first downs; a yucky 4.3 yards per play. Instead, it was punter Johnny Hekker who appeared explosive. And the Los Angeles defence was boringly good.
There’s really no way around it: Super Bowl LIII was boring in general. But there were still some weird things going on, with the night just dull enough to be record-setting.
So marvel at these numerical oddities that might salvage this Super Bowl’s place in pro football lore.
1: Play in the red zone. It was Sony Michel’s two-yard touchdown plunge. The nearest Los Angeles reached to pay dirt was the New England 26-yard line, but the Rams were sacked on the next play.
It was, according to ESPN, the first Super Bowl in which the teams combined for fewer than five plays in the red zone. And they didn’t come close.
65: In yards, the distance of the longest punt in Super Bowl history. Hekker didn’t seem to get all of this kick, punting from his own end zone in the third quarter.
But the ball caught a nice bounce and rolled 27 yards. The kick swung field position and allowed the Rams to get a stop and then drive for a field goal to tie the game.
9: Punts for Hekker, who deserves this recognition for keeping the Rams in this game. If not for his 417 yards kicking (nearly a quarter of a mile), Brady and the Patriots would have had primo field position on drive after drive.
And that’s saying something, because the Rams punted on their first eight possessions of the game, something that had never before happened in a Super Bowl, according to Elias.
107: The number of plays from scrimmage before the first touchdown was scored. Michel cruised into the end zone from two yards out with seven minutes to play.
It was the only touchdown of the game and it was a boring
touchdown. But in a game like this, you take points where you can get them. And at least we can admire Brady’s connection to Gronkowski for 29 yards to set up the score. Every other Super Bowl, incidentally, has included at least two touchdowns.
3-for-13: The Rams’ performance on third down. To put it simply, if you can’t convert on third down, you can’t sustain drives and you probably can’t score points.
The Rams led the NFL in total first downs this season, and ranked fifth in third-down percentage, converting 45 per cent of their attempts. In the Super Bowl, though, Los Angeles started 0-for-8 on third down. Its longest drive in that stretch lasted five plays.
32: Passing yards for Goff in the first half. He completed five of 12 attempts through the first two quarters.
He finished the game with 229 yards on 19-of-38 passing, but never really settled into a rhythm.