{"id":22018,"date":"2019-02-04T01:47:52","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T06:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=22018"},"modified":"2019-02-04T01:47:56","modified_gmt":"2019-02-04T06:47:56","slug":"historic-defensive-performance-for-super-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2019\/02\/04\/historic-defensive-performance-for-super-patriots\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Defensive Performance For Super Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ATLANTA \u2013 Eleven years ago, the Patriots missed by one game\nbeating Miami at one of the NFL\u2019s most venerable records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Super Bowl LIII, the Patriot defense saluted the Dolphins\nin quite another way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one of the most impressive and historic defensive\nperformances in recent NFL history, the Patriots tied the Dallas Cowboys in\nallowing the fewest points by an opponent in Super Bowl history.&nbsp; Way back in Super Bowl VI, the Cowboys held\nthe Miami Dolphins to only a field goal in a 24-3 win.&nbsp; 47 years later, the Patriots held the Los\nAngeles Rams to only a field goal, never allowing Todd Gurley to take over the\ngame and pressuring Jared Goff all game long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But most important, the Patriots tied the Pittsburgh Steelers\nfor the most wins in Super Bowl history.&nbsp;\nA tight defensive struggle was finally broken up in the fourth quarter,\nas a late touchdown by Sony Michel and a late field goal by Stephen Gostkowski\nhelped the Patriots to a 13-3 win Sunday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in\nAtlanta.&nbsp; The Patriots win their sixth\nSuper Bowl, the 12<sup>th<\/sup> title for a New England team since Y2K, and the\nwin firmly established the Patriots as the dominant team of this millennium,\nand this run by the Patriots the greatest dynasty in NFL history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even more important, this game may have turned an important\ncorner in the career of Julian Edelman.&nbsp;\nThe stout slot receiver for the Patriots caught ten passes for 141\nyards, and earned a richly deserved Super Bowl MVP honors.&nbsp; Moreover, Edelman is now being mentioned as\npossible Hall of Fame material, along with Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Bob\nKraft.&nbsp; Ty Law got into Canton on\nSaturday, and Edelman is now beginning to receive that kind of love from NFL\nobservers.&nbsp; And given how clutch he is in\npostseason games, you have to pause and think about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 13-3 final score represents the lowest combined point\ntotal in Super Bowl history.&nbsp; Both\ndefenses came to play, which makes Edelman\u2019s night even more impressive.&nbsp; Michel came on late to almost eclipse the\n100-yard mark rushing again (he finished with 94 yards rushing on 18\ncarries).&nbsp; Rob Gronkowski, in what may\nhave been his last game in the NFL, chipped in with six catches for 87\nyards.&nbsp; Rex Burkhead also contributed\nlate, with 43 yards on seven carries.&nbsp; Brady\nwas 21 of 35 for 262 yards, an interception and a 71.4 rating.&nbsp; Edelman outshone them all, and his MVP is beyond\ndebate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the great game by Edelman, the Patriots won thanks\nto their defense.&nbsp; The Patriots\u2019 first\ntwo drives ended in an interception and a missed field goal, yet the Rams were\ntotally unable to take advantage of those miscues.&nbsp; The Rams\u2019 deepest penetration was the Patriot\n26.&nbsp; Their only score came on a 53-yard\nfield goal by Greg Zuerlein in the third quarter which tied the game at 3-3 at\nthe time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fourth quarter was all Patriots, and they put the game\naway with a championship sequence that was both offensively and defensively\nwonderful to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Rams began the fourth quarter beginning at their own 7.&nbsp; Nine plays later, they made it only to their\n30, after Gurley was stopped for a one-yard loss on third and 22.&nbsp; The Patriots got the ball at their own 31\nafter a Johnny Hekker punt (Hekker had an incredible nine punts in this game,\nincluding a 65-yarder which was the longest punt in Super Bowl history).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brady then finally became Brady, for at least one\nseries.&nbsp; He hit Gronkowski for 18 yards\non a nice right sideline lob toss, then hit Edelman for 13 yards over the\nmiddle.&nbsp; After a seven-yard run by\nBurkhead, Brady flipped a beautiful lob pass to the left side, right into the\narms of Gronkowski to the Rams\u2019 2.&nbsp; The\npass was lofted perfectly over the head of Cory Littleton and into the arms of\nGronk.&nbsp; On the next play, Michel plowed\nin from two yards out behind a perfect James Develin block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Time for the defense to put its rubber stamp on this\ngame.&nbsp; Goff took over at the 25 and\nfinally found a rhythm, hitting former Patriot Brandin Cooks for 19, Josh\nReynolds for 11 and Robert Woods for 17.&nbsp;\nBut on second and ten at the Patriot 27, Goff hurried a throw to the end\nzone, underthrew the ball and Stephon Gilmore made the pick in front of his\nformer teammate Cooks.&nbsp; The Patriots put\nthe game away with 26-yard runs by Michel and Burkhead, bleeding the Rams dry\nof timeouts, and a clinching field goal by Gostkowski from 41 yards out to ice\nit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Rams got the ball back down two scores with 1:12 left, and\ndrove to the Patriot 30.&nbsp; With eight\nseconds left, Sean McVay opted for a field goal, but Zuerlein yanked a 48-yard\nattempt wide left and victory belonged to the Patriots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tuesday\u2019s Duck Boat parade will be the 12<sup>th<\/sup> such\nparade since 2002, and will certainly be just as sweet as all the others.&nbsp; But in this case, absent of any controversies,\nthis one also has to rank right up there on the sweetness scale.&nbsp; The Patriots were 3-5 in road games this\nyear, and got pasted early on by Jacksonville and Detroit on the road.&nbsp; Yet they finished with a blowout win at home\nagainst the Chargers, then an epic win at Kansas City to get here, and then\nholding the powerful Rams to just three points.&nbsp;\nThe Patriots did their jobs in reducing Goff and Gurley to\nnon-factors.&nbsp; This effort tops the\nprevious two playoff wins, and ranks among the finest defensive performances in\nPatriot history, if not the finest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than ever, the old adage \u201cit\u2019s not how you start, but\nhow you finish\u201d applies here.&nbsp; The 2001\nPatriots, who also beat the Rams in the Super Bowl, also finished the regular\nseason 11-5.&nbsp; So did these Patriots.&nbsp; This finish by what many experts wrote off as\nnot one of the stronger Patriot teams in recent history might make this one\njust as sweet as the one two years ago.&nbsp;\nThe Rams were held to only 260 total yards.&nbsp; Gurley had only 35 yards rushing, Goff had\nonly 229 yards passing and a rating of 57.9.&nbsp;\nThat is the stuff of legend, simply put.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Patriots and their fans will celebrate way into the\nnight, and come out in droves to see still another parade on Tuesday.&nbsp; It\u2019s a tradition around here that never gets\nold.&nbsp; National pundits can say what they\nwant about being sick of the Patriots winning again.&nbsp; Around here, such talk goes in one ear and\nout the other.&nbsp; You never get tired of it,\nand you hope it lasts forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Champions again.&nbsp;\nSixth time.&nbsp; Only three points\ngiven up.&nbsp; It really is time to party,\nPatriot Nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>>In one of the most impressive and historic defensive<br \/>\nperformances in recent NFL history, the Patriots tied the Dallas Cowboys in<br \/>\nallowing the fewest points by an opponent in Super Bowl history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":22039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_pfeai_meta_description":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1893,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2018-patriots-playoffs","category-patriots-commentary"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is 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