Los Angeles Rams vs. New England Patriots: 5 Patriots to watch revisited

Super Bowl LIII has come and gone and the Los Angeles Rams fell short against the New England Patriots. Mostly a defensively struggle, the Rams lost 13-3 in crushing fashion. With two high-powered offenses coming in, many thought there would be lots of points. Quite the opposite happened with only one redzone trip for the whole game and one touchdown.

Let’s revisit the five Patriots that I thought would have a huge impact on the game.

QB Tom Brady

Tom Brady won the game but wasn’t the MVP. He put up a stat line of 21/35 passing for 262 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Brady finished the game with a QBR of 25.8 (well below average) but still managed to win his sixth championship, putting him as the undisputed GOAT at quarterback in my opinion.

The Rams couldn’t capitalize on Brady’s mistake early in the game and ultimately when it mattered most, Brady did deliver to TE Rob Gronkowski.

EDGE Trey Flowers

Flowers registered three tackles including one for loss while hitting Jared Goff twice. The Patriots front seven did an outstanding job in limiting the Rams offense and for the most part controlled the line of scrimmage. Goff was hit 12 times during the Super Bowl.

WR Julian Edelman

Edelman was outstanding in the Super Bowl. He also deservingly got the MVP nod for his game. Targeted 12 times, Edelman caught 10 passes for 141 yards. Rams defenders took their chances but his crisp route running and football IQ made it hard for the Rams to cover him for most of the game.

LB Kyle Van Noy

Van Noy was all over the field. Surprisingly, he only ended up with four tackles but made them count with a sack. Van Noy also was credited with three QB hits and was dominant with fellow LB Hightower at times. For me, this was a soul-crushing play. The Rams were driving and positioned themselves for a very manageable third down (one of the few). Van Noy got to Goff so quickly that the young QB had no choice but to take the sack.

RB Sony Michel

The Patriots rookie scored the lone touchdown of Super Bowl LIII. With the Rams defense playing well for most of the game, most of his chunk yards came very late. For the game, Michel finished with 94 rushing yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Credit the Patriots, they stuck to the running game with discipline and ultimately were rewarded.