Super Bowl 53
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Super Bowl 53 ended with the New England Patriots holding off the youthful Los Angeles Rams and we’re all happy it’s over.

Super Bowl Sunday did not turn out well for Roger Goodell and the NFL. The week leading up to the big day was dominated by intrigue and drama in the NBA. The hope was that the game would make up for the slow week in news and reassert the NFL’s dominance on the news cycle.

Unfortunately, this game was an absolute stinker. It was a snoozefest. In fact, it was one of the worst games most NFL fans have watched all year (unless you are lucky enough to be a New England Patriots fan, of course).

There were 14 punts in this game and only three scores (two field goals and one touchdown). Despite the fact that this was never more than a one-score game, the Patriots employed a dominating gameplan on defense. The Los Angeles Rams were held in check all night and held to a paltry (YARDS).

The Patriots weren’t much better on offense, but they were still good enough to edge out the Rams. Tom Brady threw an interception on his very first pass of the game, but following that, he kept the Pats moving forward.

He looked more like a game manager than we are more accustomed to seeing, but he played well enough to win his sixth Super Bowl in nine appearances. He finished the night with 262 yards on 21-for-35 passing with one interception to no touchdowns.

Despite Brady’s uncharacteristically quiet game, he was better than Jared Goff and the Rams offense. Goff and the high-flying Rams offense never got off the ground. The young quarterback finished the night with 208 yards on 18-for-35 passing and one gut-wrenching interception.

That interception came when head coach Bill Belichick dialed up an all-out blitz and threw Goff off his game. In fact, Belichick was throwing Goff and the Rams offense off their game all night.

Rams head coach Sean McVay is one of the brightest young coaches in the NFL, but he was outclassed by Belichick in a major way. The Pats stayed true to their gameplan and the Rams could never adjust.

The Goff interception was the play that really finished it off, but the final score came on a five-play, 69-yard drive punctuated by a Sony Michel rush for the only touchdown of the game. Rob Gronkowski came up with two huge catches on the drive to set up Michel.

Michel finished the night with 94 yards and 18 rushes and the one definitive touchdown. He may have won the Super Bowl MVP had it not been for the work of Julian Edelman. The dominant slot receiver caught 10 balls for 141 yards on just 12 targets. He was the rock for the New England offense that struggled to get going for much of the game. Gronkowski finished with 87 yards on six catches as well.

Not many Rams filled up the stat sheet on Super Bowl Sunday. The backfield tandem of Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson finished with 57 yards on 17 carries.

The only Ram who really carried his weight on offense was Brandin Cooks who finished with 120 yards on eight receptions. But Cooks also dropped a potential game-tying touchdown catch that directly preceded the fateful Goff interception.

As close as this game was, it was an absolute snoozefest. The NFL is trending towards offenses, but Super Bowl 53 was all about defense. Hopefully, fans will get to watch a better game next season because this was one of the most forgettable Super Bowls in recent memory.

NY/NJ hoops reporter (NBA/NCAA) & sports betting writer for XL Media. Never had the makings of a varsity athlete.