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. Here are the grades for the Patriots offense.
Quarterback
After three quarters of confusion and midfield stalling, Tom Brady finally found a grove on the game-winning drive (his sixth in Super Bowls) in the fourth quarter, breaking a 3-3 tie.
TB12 went 4-for-4 for 67 yards with the game on the line, throwing his most beautiful pass of the night, a 29-yard, majestic seam pass to Rob Gronkowski, to set up the winning score by Sony Michel.
This was certainly Brady’s ugliest Super Bowl performance, but there’s something beautiful about Bill Belichick’s defense lifting the team throughout, after Brady’s 33-point, 505 yards of passing barrage against the Philadelphia Eagles proved all for naught in Super Bowl LII.
Plus, Brady came through when the Patriots REALLY needed him, again.
With six rings, Brady now has more Super Bowl rings than any football player, ever.
He also has a great case for being the greatest athlete in the history of North American professional team sports, which is a title he’d most likely be taking from Michael Jordan.
Brady’s 6-3 record in Super Bowls is vastly more impressive than Jordan’s 6-0 mark in NBA Finals, as football is a one-and-your-done scenario.
But in the smaller picture — yes, Brady was befuddled by Wade Phillips’ defense for much of the night. But he again came through in the clutch, to win yet another Super Bowl.
Grade: B-
Running Back
After a slow start due to the Rams’ shear talent and tenacity up front on defense, the Patriots eventually found a groove late in the running game.
The team rushed for 154 yards on 32 carries, with Sony Michel running for 94 yards and the game-winning two-yard score.
One of the game’s oddities was James White lone three touches for nine yards. A usual big-game staple, the Rams’ tight zone coverage did what they could to limit White, while Michel and Rex Burkhead (nine touches, 58 total yards) found success in spurts, mostly late.
Not talked about enough, James Develin was an absolute monster in this game, and most games throughout the Patriots’ satisfying 2018 campaign. New England’s use of the fullback, a staple of older offenses, proved to be the correct ‘zag’ as the league zigged toward ’11’ personnel and shotgun-filled spread formations to accumulate points at a league-record pace, per a total sewn of all teams.
The success of Develin, a hard-nosed, engineering major from Brown, was a microcosm of the Patriots’ postseason run. Although they employ the best quarterback to ever play the game, it was New England’s smash mouth running game and defense that led the way versus high-flying, transcendent offenses that were left feeling empty on the game’s greatest stages. Belichick wins again. He can thank Develin, among others.
Grade: B
Wide Receiver/Tight End
It goes without saying, that Super Bowl LIII MVP Julian Edelman (10 catches, 141 receiving yards) had a fantastic game.
And so did Rob Gronkowski (six catches, 87 yards).
Brady’s most trusted targets of the 2010’s came through when the rest of the offense stalled, combining for 16 catches and 228 yards on 19 targets. To put the latter stat in perspective, Brady looked to other pass catchers a combined 16 times, compared to Edelman and Gronk.
Edelman destroyed Rams’ zone coverage by having the spatial awareness and quickness to average 3.9 yards of separation on Brady’s team-high 12 looks his way, according to NFL.com’s Next Gen Stats.
Gronkowski came thought late, hauling in the team’s biggest offensive play of the day with this late seam pass. He had two big catches on the big, fourth-quarter drive that essentially won the game. If this Gronk’s final game, he sure left a fitting, legendary impression, leaving it all on the field. He’s been the NFL’s most unstoppable offensive weapon for most of the 2010’s and will certainly be a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, five years after he decides to hang up his cleats.
Elsewhere, Brady was 0-for-6 targeting Chris Hogan, as Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib helped to take New England’s outside receivers completely out of the game. Brady had to work in between the numbers, if he was going to get anything against that defense.
Grade: B+
Offensive Line
From beginning the season as somewhat of a question mark, to completely dominating throughout the postseason, this unit comprised of (from left to right) of Trent Brown, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason and Marcus Cannon came to play yet again.
Most of the offensive struggles were due to Phillip’s zone scheme covering Patriots pass catchers (other than Edelman), not because of a formidable pass rush.
This group did allow their first sack of the postseason, and at times both Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh quickly found themselves in the backfield, but they eventually used stamina to wear the Rams’ defense out.
The talented unit that featured a Super Bowl record seven first-round picks had completely shut down the Cowboys and Saints rushing attacks, but New England ran for 154 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, giving the Rams glimpses of what ailed them during the regular season.
This hard-working group owes a lot of credit to perhaps the greatest offensive line coach of all-time, Dante Scarnecchia. His teachings and methods have helped shape what ended up being one of the league’s very best units down the stretch.
Grade: B+
