Super Bowl LIII: Six Fast Facts Following the Championship
The New England Patriots are victorious yet again, winning their sixth Super Bowl title after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII. The win, which ties the record for most Super Bowl titles by one franchise alongside the Pittsburgh Steelers, cements the legacy of the Patriots as the top team in football for the past two decades. Here are six notable statistics from the most recent edition of the Super Bowl.
Under head coach Bill Belichick and starting quarterback Tom Brady, the Patriots have won six Super Bowls, cementing themselves as the league’s top team for the past two decades. However, in all nine of their Super Bowl appearances during this stretch, they failed to get off to a good start every time. Super Bowl LIII was no exception. The Patriots failed to score in the first quarter, with Tom Brady throwing an interception on the first drive, kicker Stephen Gostkowski missing a 46-yard field goal on the second drive, and the Patriots being forced to punt on the third drive. In their nine Super Bowl appearances under Brady and Belichick, the Patriots have scored just three points in the first quarter.
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman was named the MVP of Super Bowl LIII for his 10-reception, 141-yard performance. Edelman did most of his damage in the first half, where he recorded seven of his 10 receptions. With the award, Edelman becomes the first wide receiver to win Super Bowl MVP since Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes won the award at Super Bowl XLIII. Edelman joins a very exclusive group of wide receivers to win this prestigious award, as he became the seventh wide receiver to win the Super Bowl MVP.
Despite scoring just 13 points on the day, the Patriots ended up winning Super Bowl LIII. This is the fewest points put up by any team to ever win the Super Bowl, surpassing the previous record of 14 points put up by the Miami Dolphins in their 14-7 victory over Washington at Super Bowl VII. The Patriots become just the sixth team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl while scoring less than 20 points.
While many believed that the Rams’ explosive offense would have at least some success against the Patriots in the Super Bowl, the end result was anything but that. The Rams finished the game with just three points scored, which tied the Super Bowl record for fewest points scored by one team in a game. The only other team to be held to three points was the Miami Dolphins against the Dallas Cowboys in a 24-3 defeat at Super Bowl VI. Here’s a list of every team to be held to seven points or less in Super Bowl history.
The Rams entered Super Bowl LIII with one of the most dynamic offenses in all of football. After scoring 527 points during the regular season, the Rams entered the game as the 11th highest scoring team in NFL history. However, none of these historically good offenses have been able to do anything when it matters most in the postseason. Of the top 11 scoring teams in NFL history, including the 2018 Los Angeles Rams, none of them ended up winning the Super Bowl that year.
The experts in Las Vegas predicted a high-scoring Super Bowl, setting the over/under at 55.5 points. It makes sense why the over/under was so high. The Rams averaged 32.9 points per game during the regular season, which was the second best total in the league, and had played a game earlier in the season against the Kansas City Chiefs where 105 points were scored combined. Additionally, the Patriots had been involved in the past two Super Bowls, both of which were high-scoring games, including a 41-33 game against the Philadelphia Eagles last year where 74 points were scored combined. However, what ended up occurring was the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history, with just 16 points being scored between the two teams. For perspective, prior to Super Bowl LIII, the last time any Super Bowl had less than 30 total points was Super Bowl IX during the 1974 season. Here’s the list of the lowest scoring Super Bowls in NFL history.
For the sixth time since the 2001 season, the New England Patriots finished the season as Super Bowl champions, defeating the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII. Top photo by USA Today, Bottom photo by Philly.com