Sports

Super Bowl Madness… But Not Really!

On Sunday, February third, the NFL’s 53rd championship game was played at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium. The game featured two of the league’s top teams: the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams. The star-studded commercials and halftime show brought in viewers as well.

Super Bowl LIII, as a whole, was everything but offensive. This was a Super Bowl where the defenses dominated the game. As a matter of fact, this was the lowest scoring Super Bowl in NFL history. The game was low-scoring because both teams were terrible at converting on third downs. New England was three for twelve and Los Angeles was three for thirteen. This led to both teams struggling to move the ball up the field. One of the best scoring offenses in the NFL throughout the regular season, the Rams, were held to only a field goal. This came with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter on a Greg Zuerlein 53-yard kick.

The halftime show featured Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Big Boi as well as a cameo by Spongebob. One of the shows most famous episodes features Spongebob performing at the halftime show of the Super Bowl. Therefore, fans of the animated show have been clamoring for a mention in the big game. The hype around the potential performance of “Sweet Victory” was ratcheted up even more after the death of Spongebob’s creator, Steven Hillenbrand, a few months ago.

Now back to the actual game, both quarterbacks did not play very well. The Patriots’ Tom Brady threw for 262 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception. Los Angeles’s Jared Goff also played horribly: passing for 229 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception.

   All of the first quarter was scoreless. To kick off the scoring, in the second quarter Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski hit a 42-yard field goal. The only touchdown in the game came with 7 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The touchdown drive was started by a big pass from Brady to tight end Rob Gronkowski for 18 yards. This was followed by a Brady pass to wide receiver Julian Edelman for 13 yards. The biggest play of the drive came when Brady, again, threw to Gronk for another 29 yards. On the play immediately following that big pass rookie running back Sony Michel ran 2 yards into the endzone for a TD putting New England up 10-3.

Los Angeles followed the Patriots’ touchdown by a solid drive of their own. On the New England, 27-yard line the Patriots’ defense came up clutch as All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore picked off Jared Goff on an attempted pass to wide receiver Brandin Cooks. On the ensuing possession, New England ran down the clock, eventually kicking a field goal to put the Patriots up 13-3. Julian Edelman had one of the best games of his career and was named Most Valuable Player of the game. He caught 10 passes for 141 yards. Head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots won their 6th Super Bowl, continuing the Patriots dynasty.