Super Bowl LII (53), featuring the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots, took the world by storm on February 3, 2019. The Rams were victorious over the New Orleans Saints to make it to the Super Bowl, while the Patriots won against the Kansas City Chiefs. The game was played at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, bringing the Rams across the country and the Patriots down the coast to the neutral location. It was here where the Rams fell to the legacy of the Patriots, losing by ten points in the lowest scoring Super Bowl game in history.

The Patriots’ Super Bowl appearance this past weekend was their eleventh total, fourth in five years. They came out victorious against the Los Angeles Rams in a game now known as being uneventful and with a low final score, the Patriots coming out on top with a score of 13-3. The lowest combined score before this was 21, when the Miami Dolphins beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII.

This is the Patriots’ sixth title in 18 seasons; they are tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for most Super Bowl wins in NFL history. This championship was quarterback Tom Brady’s sixth win with the Patriots, earning him another ring. There is speculation that this may be Brady’s final Super Bowl, yet nothing has been confirmed.

This Super Bowl accomplished many feats and broke many records. This game included the lowest combined score, the lowest scoring first half in 44 years, and the most time elapsed between touchdowns. Los Angeles Rams coach, Sean McVay, also went down in history as the youngest head coach at a NFL championship, at age 33. He was just 16 years old when Brady won his first Super Bowl. Another less-than noteworthy performance at this year’s Super Bowl was the Pepsi Halftime Show featuring Maroon 5, Travis Scott, and Big Boi. From Adam Levine’s breathless vocals and strange outfit, to Travis Scott’s odd introduction honoring a 2001 episode of Spongebob Squarepants, the performance left many wondering how the odd pairing of performers was decided on and just how they had secured their spot in one of the most highly coveted performance slots in entertainment.  

While this game caught the attention of 98.2 million people on CBS alone, it came nowhere close to the record set by the Patriots 2015 Super Bowl appearance, where they attracted over 114 million viewers for their game against the Seattle Seahawks. A large number of those who “tuned out” hailed from New Orleans, where their home team, the Saints, lost against the Rams on a highly speculative call from the referee. The Rams were able to capitalize on this call and ride it all the way to Super Bowl LIII, causing New Orleans residents and fans of the Saints to boycott this year’s final game. Ratings from New Orleans show that viewership was half of what it was last year.

Many factors are said to have contributed to the Rams’ loss. Head coach Sean McVay blames the loss on his own style of coaching. “There’s no other way to say it, I got out-coached tonight” McVay was quotes as saying. He found himself up against long-time coach Bill Belichick, who has found himself in many Super Bowls with the Patriots over the years and simply has more experience than Sean does. LA’s style of play was criticized and could be a possible reason for their downfall against New England. They came out strong, throwing Brady out of his element, but fizzled out toward the end of the game. In 35 games previously played under Sean McVay, the Rams had never failed to score by halftime. Jared Goff, the Rams quarterback, stated that they were simply outplayed by the Patriots.