Bill Belichick just won his sixth Super Bowl as head coach of the New England Patriots. The Patriots completely smothered and flummoxed the high-powered Rams offense all night long in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, nearly getting the first shutout in Super Bowl history in a 13-3 win over Los Angeles.
After the game, Belichick tipped his hat to his old defensive coordinator, Lions head coach Matt Patricia. He said the Patriots drew upon what success the Lions had against the Rams during the season, a 30-16 L.A. win where Jared Goff & Co. padded stats and the scoreboard late.
“We felt like if we could make them drive it, make them earn it, similar to what the Lions did,” Belichick said in one of his postgame press addresses, as heard on the CBS radio feed. “Make them run a lot of plays and if we get them in third down, we felt like we could get them off the field.”
The gameplan worked beautifully for the Patriots. And the manner in which New England won is the type of team Patricia is trying to build in Detroit. This game is proof that it can work.
