In a defensive battle between the league’s top teams, the New England Patriots prevailed, 13-3, over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, mostly due to one of the great defenses performances in NFL history. Here are the grades for the Patriots defense.
Defensive Line
It’s no question that the Patriots played their best overall performance in a Super Bowl on Sunday.
With help from a non-existent (and maybe injured) Todd Gurley, being held to 35 yards on 10 carries, the Patriots defense shut down Los Angeles’ best weapon, then terrorized Jared Goff.
Goff was sacked four times, with Trey Flowers (three QB hits), Adrian Clayborn Lawrence Guy and Deatrich Wise combining for seven quarterback hits, and a boatload of pressures in a day where Goff never got comfortable.
Danny Shelton had a tone-setting hit on C. J. Anderson early, stopping him in the backfield for a loss of three, and several other times he sniffed out the Rams’ wide zone scheme at various points.
This group stepped up in a major way on Super Bowl Sunday.
Grade: A
Linebackers
Perhaps the most impressive group of the night, Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy were all-time good in Super Bowl LIII.
Coming off a season-ending injury in 2017, Hightower looked older and slower for much of the season before turning on another gear in the postseason.
Along with Julian Edelman and Stephon Gilmore, Hightower was one of three players who had a legitimate shot at winning Super Bowl LIII MVP. The award ultimately went to Edelman, but as the lone-linebacker on the Patriots’ often-used 6-1 alignment, he played his job perfectly.
Hightower added two sacks, and another QB hit to go along with a near-interception in the third quarter.
His counterpart linebacker, Kyle Van Noy, was arguably the better player for much of the season, and delivered once again in the biggest game of the year.
Van Noy lined up on the edge often to stop the Rams for using their patented outside-zone running game. But other times dropped backed into coverage, or came screaming in to pressure Goff, as he garnered a sack and three quarterback hits on the night.
Grade: A+
Defensive Backs
After playing man coverage more than any other team throughout the season, the Patriots switched to a zone matchup look, utilizing a Cover 4 – ‘quarters’ scheme to confuse the young Rams quarterback.
The most surprising element to this strategy was putting speedy No. 4 cornerback, Jonathan Jones, at safety for 64 of the team’s 65 defensive snaps.
Jones lined up with Devin McCourty for most of the game, as Duron Harmon played slightly less than presumed, coming in on various packages. But Harmon had a key knockdown late on foamier-Patritot Brandin Cooks. Then, on the next play, Harmon’s unprovoked blitz on Goff forced a key error, a four-quarter interception by Stephon Gilmore, the NFL’s best cornerback.
Gilmore was phenomenal in this game, and throughout the season. While wearing jersey No. 24, the performance could be looked at as an ode to now-Hall-of-Famer Ty Law, who also donned the number for the early 2000’s version of the franchise’s dynasty.
J.C. Jackson and Jason McCourty were again stellar as the team’s next two cornerbacks, as McCourty made one of the plays of the season in knocking away an almost-touchdown between Goff and Cooks. Goff looked to a wide-open Cooks a tad late, and McCourty sprinted from the other end of the field to knockdown the pass, forcing the Rams to a field goal, their only points of the night.
Then there was Patrick Chung, who left early with what appears to be a broken arm. Chung showed his toughness in walking to the sideline on his own, and by his play pre-injury. Chung lined up opposite Van Noy along the edge of the defensive line in the team’s ‘6-1′ front-seven alignment, and he also stayed back in coverage, delivering a few big hits, including one on Josh Reynolds to break up a third-down conversion attempt.
A group that was picked apart in Super Bowl LII stepped up big in Super Bowl LIII, with the help of some key contributors.
If this is indeed the end of the McCourty twins’ career, then what an awesome way to go out.
And likewise for Brian Flores, who was there long before he yelled “Malcom, go!” in Super Bowl XLIX, then took over defensive play-calling duties, and together with Bill Belichick, delivered a masterful performance in teaching and leading this defense. Flores has now taken over the Miami Dolphins’ head coaching job, and will forever be appreciated in New England.
Grade: A
