For Super Bowl coverage, see
ATLANTA – Defenses dominated what was supposed to be a super shootout until Tom Brady led one classic drive to win the New England Patriots their record-tying sixth Super Bowl.
Brady threw two perfect passes to Rob Gronkowski to set up rookie Sony Michel’s 2-yard score – the only touchdown in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever. That put New England up 10-3. A late field goal clinched the win over the Rams 13-3.
In a season in which all sorts of offensive records were set, this Super Bowl
rewrote the defensive record book.
“Finally got a touchdown and the defense played the best game of the year,” Brady said
No Super Bowl had gone into the fourth quarter without a touchdown. This one did, tied 3-3 – even though these teams combined to average over 60 points a game.
When the Patriots needed a score, Brady, the oldest winning quarterback in a Super Bowl at 41, completed four straight passes, including a pair covering 47 yards to Gronkowski. The second , on which the star tight end beat two defenders, ended at the Los Angeles 2, the only time either team was inside the 20-yard line. Michel ran off left tackle for his sixth postseason touchdown.
“He knows to trust in me and throw that ball,” Gronkowski said, “and I’m going to grab it.”
Julian Edelman, the outstanding receiver who missed the 2017 season with a knee injury, was the game’s MVP with 10 receptions for 141 yards.
With 4:17 left, All-Pro Stephon Gilmore picked off an ill-advised pass by Rams quarterback Jared Goff, who seemed overwhelmed by the big stage all night, at the New England 2.
Stephen Gostkowski made a 41-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining, completing a 72-yard march that took more than three minutes off the clock and included 26-yard runs by Michel and Rex Burkhead.
It was a workmanlike conclusion for the Patriots (14-5), whose losses all came away from New England. They beat the top two offenses in the Chiefs and Rams (15-4) in the postseason, and tied Pittsburgh for most Super Bowl titles.
The Patriots were terrific all game on defense, allowing the fewest points in a Super Bowl (tied with Dallas in 1972 against Miami).
“We’re a relentless team,” linebacker Dont’a Hightower said. “We didn’t give up. A lot was thrown at us. When we play like we did tonight, we can’t be beat.”
The Rams, who reached the NFL championship game with the aid of a major officiating error in the conference title victory at New Orleans, never really threatened to reach the end zone.
“Last time I checked, defense wins championships,” Rams running back C.J. Anderson said.
At 66, Bill Belichick became the oldest winning Super Bowl coach. The Patriots beat the Rams, then representing St. Louis, to begin their dynastic run in the 2002 game. They also have beaten Carolina and Philadelphia (2004 and ‘05, the last repeater); the Seahawks in 2015; and the Falcons in 2017 in the only overtime in Super Bowl history.
They have lost three times, including to Philadelphia a year ago. New England is the first team since the 1972 Dolphins to win a Super Bowl the year after losing one.
How the Patriots accomplished it was atypical. The 10-point margin was their biggest in winning a championship.
Brady, who has won four Super Bowl MVP trophies, wasn’t particularly sharp – except when throwing to Edelman. He was the steadiest offensive player on the field, finishing with 10 catches for 141 yards.
“It just matters that we won,” Edelman said. “It was a crazy year. We had a resilient bunch of guys.”
Brady passed Charles Haley to become the only player with six Super Bowl titles.
All those suspicions about the Patriots declining this season became moot as the defense made the 24-year-old Goff look awful and turned All-Pro running back Todd Gurley into a nonfactor.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—New England, Michel 18-94, Burkhead 7-43, Edelman 1-8, Patterson 2-7, White 2-4, Brady 2-(minus 2). L.A. Rams, Gurley 10-35, Anderson 7-22, Woods 1-5.
PASSING—New England, Brady 21-35-1-262. L.A. Rams, Goff 19-38-1-229.
RECEIVING—New England, Edelman 10-141, Gronkowski 6-87, Burkhead 2-15, Patterson 2-14, White 1-5. L.A. Rams, Cooks 8-120, Woods 5-70, Reynolds 3-28, Anderson 2-12, Gurley 1-(minus 1). PUNT RETURNS—New England, Edelman 2-2. L.A. Rams, Natson 2-12.
KICKOFF RETURNS—New England, Patterson 1-38. L.A. Rams,
Natson 1-27. TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS—New England, Jones 6-2-1, Gilmore 5-0-0, McCourty 4-1-0, Wise 3-2-0, Van Noy 3-0-1, Flowers 2-1-0, Hightower 2-0-2, Guy 2-0-0, Shelton 2-0-0, Chung 1-2-0, Jackson 1-1-0, McCourty 1-1-0, Roberts 1-0-0, McClellan 1-0-0, Brown 0-2-0. L.A. Rams, Littleton 6-4-0, Peters 5-2-0, Brockers 5-2-0, Johnson 5-2-0, Joyner 4-2-0, Talib 4-0-0, Fowler 4-0-0, Barron 3-5-0, Ebukam 3-0-0, Donald 1-4-0, Robey-Coleman 1-1-0, Suh 1-1-0, Franklin-Myers 1-0-1. INTERCEPTIONS—New England, Gilmore 1-0. L.A. Rams, Littleton 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—New England, Gostkowski 46. L.A. Rams, Zuerlein 48.
OFFICIALS—Referee John Parry, Ump Fred Bryan, HL Ed Camp, LJ Jeff Bergman, FJ Steve Zimmer, SJ Eugene Hall, BJ Terrence Miles, Replay Jim Lapetina.