Super Bowl Recap | Jake Berman

Super Bowl Recap

by: Jake Berman

On Sunday, the New England Patriots faced off against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Both teams had incredible offenses and questionable defenses, so it was an exciting matchup that had people looking forward to Super Bowl Sunday just a tad more than usual. Except the exact opposite happened. What we got instead was a slugfest. The final score was a 13-3 victory for the Patriots, the lowest scoring Super Bowl in NFL history. Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time who has dominated the league for almost two decades, finishing 21/35 for 262 yards with no touchdowns, a pick, and a paltry 71.4 passer rating. It’s not like losing quarterback Jared Goff performed any better, as he was 19/38 for 229 yards, no touchdowns, an interception, and an even more pathetic 57.9 passer rating.

Beyond the stat lines, Brady looked like a composed veteran despite his ineffectiveness, while Goff was abysmally bad. The youngster was clearly nervous in the spotlight, as he frequently got rid of the ball unnecessarily early, missing wide open receivers, and taking sacks when he didn’t need to. The only noteworthy offensive performance came from Julian Edelman, who won MVP honors with 10 receptions for 141 yards. Despite the low score, don’t chalk this up to the defense. Both teams were just sloppy all around. Brady’s pick was tipped, Stephen Gostkowski missed a field goal in the beginning of the game, and Rams receiver Brandin Cooks dropped a would be game tying touchdown the play before Goff’s pick. The list of mistakes go on.

There’s a legitimate argument that the highlight of the game was what’s traditionally one of the most boring. Ryan Allen and Johnny Hekker, the Patriots’ and Rams’ respective punters, put on a clinic Sunday night, regularly pinning the other team inside the 20, contributing to the lack of offense throughout the night. Even announcers Jim Nantz and Tony Romo thought so, as they were audibly excited after Hekker set a record with a 65 yard punt, the longest in the history of the big game. “That’s the highlight of the game!”, Nantz cried, desperately trying to get audiences engaged in this snoozefest.

The Super Bowl is by far the watched television event of the year. This is both a blessing and a curse, as the great matchups we’ve had for the past two years will go down in history as two of the greatest games of all time. However, it backfires when you have a game as dull as this one.