Patriots set Super Bowl records with 6th title
The Latest on the Super Bowl (all times EST):
___
12:50 a.m.
The New England Patriots added even more luster to the franchise’s rich championship history on Sunday.
Their victory over the Los Angeles Rams put a stamp on a season that started 1-2, but ended with New England becoming the first team since the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins to win the Super Bowl after losing it the previous season.
New England is now tied with Pittsburgh at six Super Bowl titles apiece. The Patriots also improved to 41-1 in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era after shutting out an opponent in the first half, including the postseason. Brady is also the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl at age 41. Belichick is the oldest coach to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at age 66.
With his sixth ring, Brady has broken a tie with Hall of Famer Charles Haley for the most all-time by a player.
The low-scoring manner the Patriots won on Sunday also produced records.
The 13 points scored by New England matched the lowest total the team has scored in any of Brady’s 40 postseason starts. This was the first of Brady’s nine Super Bowl appearances in which he did not throw a touchdown.
It was his fifth postseason game without a TD pass. The Patriots are now 5-0 in those games.
___
12:30 a.m.
Rob Gronkowski isn’t interested in addressing his plan for the future right now. He just wants to enjoy his third Super Bowl ring.
After answering questions leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl about whether it would be his final NFL game, the 29-year-old tight end said after the Patriots’ victory that he still plans to give it some time and thought.
“Tonight, it’s about celebrating with my teammates,” he said after the game. “And that decision will be made a week or two down the future . . That’s what it’s about, celebrating with my teammates. That’s what I’m worried about tonight. We’re going to have a good time. Bill (Belichick) me he’s partying tonight. So you know it’s going to be good.”
There’s been reports that Patriots star tight end could be playing his final NFL game. The four-time All-Pro has been plagued by injuries for much of his career, and only in his first two pro seasons did he play a full 16-game schedule. In 2018, he made it into 13 games.
Gronkowski has battled through back, knee, ankle and arm injuries throughout his nine pro seasons, and thought about retirement after last year’s Super Bowl loss to the Eagles.
Gronkowski says he hasn’t thought about that decision at all.”
___
10:04 p.m.
For those who may have dozed off … the Patriots have won the Super Bowl.
New England topped the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in a game that dragged the high-def NFL back to the days of black-and-white TV. It was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in the 53-year history of the game.
Tom Brady captured his record sixth NFL title by throwing for 262 yards, without a touchdown. The Patriots matched the Steelers for most Super Bowl wins, with six.
Julian Edelman caught 10 passes for 141 yards; he was the day’s only consistent offensive threat.
Brady engineered the game’s lone touchdown drive –a five-play, 69-yard march punctuated by an over-the-shoulder, 29-yard throw into the hands of tight end Rob Gronkowski. On the next play, Sony Michel scored on a 2-yard plunge with 7 minutes to play for a 10-3 lead.
But the real stars of this game were the New England defenders, who smothered Rams quarterback Jared Goff, holding him to 229 yards that felt like less.
After New England’s score, Goff moved the Rams down to the New England 28 with 4:30 left. But the third-year quarterback threw one up for grabs near the end zone and cornerback Stephon Gilmore stepped in front for the interception.
The Rams, who averaged 32.9 points a game this season, joined the Miami Dolphins –from Super Bowl 6 in 1972– as the only the second team not to muster a touchdown in the title game.
___
10 p.m.
The New England Patriots have padded their Super Bowl lead over the Los Angeles Rams with a 41-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. The field goal gave the Patriots a 13-3 lead.
The Patriots worked the clock on a drive covering nine plays and 72 yards, including 26-yard runs by Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead.
___
9:35 p.m.
Tom Brady and the Patriots finally turned up the offense to end the Super Bowl’s longest touchdown drought.
Sony Michel scored on a 2-yard run with 7 minutes remaining to give the Patriots a 10-3 lead over the Rams.
The first Super Bowl without a touchdown through three quarters was in dire need of a boost. Then Brady completed four consecutive passes to set up Michel’s touchdown plunge. The drive opened with an 18-yard catch by Rob Gronkowski, who added a 29-yard diving catch at the 2.
Brady also completed passes to Julian Edelman and Rex Burkhead during the drive.
___
9:10 p.m.
The Rams finally have scored, but the longest touchdown drought in Super Bowl history continues.
Greg Zuerlein kicked a 53-yard field goal late in the third quarter to allow the Rams to pull even with the Patriots at 3-3.
The big play of the Rams’ scoring drive was Jared Goff’s 18-yard pass to Robert Woods on a third-and-7 play. The Rams had been stopped on their first eight third-down plays of the game.
The third quarter ended with the 3-3 tie, the first time no touchdowns had been scored through three quarters in Super Bowl history. The previous longest touchdown drought came in the 1989 Super Bowl between the Bengals and 49ers when the first touchdown was scored with 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter. San Francisco won the game 20-16.
___
8:40 p.m.
Patriots safety Patrick Chung has suffered a right arm injury that knocked him out of the Super Bowl early in the third quarter.
Chung suffered the injury when his right arm was caught between teammate Jonathan Jones’ helmet and Rams running back Todd Gurley’s helmet on a tackle.
While still on his back, Chung pounded the turf in frustration. His arm was placed in a black air cast. The Patriots announced Chung will not return to the game.
A cart came out, but Chung walked off the field for the Patriots locker room with the cart trailing behind.
___
8:30 p.m.
Maroon 5 closed out its glitzy halftime show with frontman Adam Levine going shirtless for “Moves Like Jagger,” and a controversy-free performance was complete.
Rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi each performed one truncated song. A marching band and a gospel choir joined in, but there was no apparent reference onstage to supporting former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, a focal point following his kneeling during the national anthem to protest social injustice.
___
8 p.m.
The expected Super Bowl slugfest is a snoozer at halftime.
New England leads Los Angeles 3-0 on a 42-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, making for the second-lowest scoring first half in the game’s history. Only Pittsburgh’s 2-0 halftime lead over Minnesota in the 1975 Super Bowl — won by the Steelers, 16-6 had fewer points.
Denver was the previous team to go scoreless during the Super Bowl in 2014 against Seattle.
New England dominated in time of possession, holding the football for 19 minutes, 52 seconds, while Los Angeles had it for 10:08. The Patriots also outgained the Rams in total yardage 195-57.
Tom Brady, seeking his sixth Super Bowl win, was 15 of 25 for 160 yards and an interception. Julian Edelman was his main target, catching seven passes for 93 yards.
Jared Goff was 5 of 12 for just 52 yards as the Rams were 0 for 6 on third downs. Star running back Todd Gurley had only 10 yards rushing on three attempts.
___
7:25 p.m.
Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 42-yard field goal to give New England a 3-0 lead over the Los Angeles Rams with 10:29 left in the first half of the Super Bowl.
The Patriots kicker missed a 46-yard attempt late in the opening quarter, but made up for it by capping New England’s seven-play, 39-yard drive with the first points of the game.
Julian Edelman, who had two catches for 31 yards on the drive, passed Dallas’ Michael Irvin for the second-most receiving yards in NFL postseason history. Only Jerry Rice has more than Edelman.
___
7:10 p.m.
Down goes Brady!
New England’s Tom Brady was sacked for the first time this postseason, going down when Los Angeles’ John-Franklin Myers knocked the ball out of the quarterback’s hands late in the first quarter of the Super Bowl.
Patriots center David Andrews recovered the fumble and New England maintained possession.
It was the first time Brady was sacked in a postseason game since last year’s Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Brandon Graham ripped the ball out of Brady’s hands for a fumble that was recovered by Derek Barnett — sending the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title in franchise history with a 41-33 victory.
The game remained scoreless through the first quarter.
New England, which had the ball for 11 minutes and 47 seconds, still hasn’t scored a touchdown in the opening quarter in its past nine Super Bowls. The Patriots have been outscored 24-3 in those games — with the only points coming on a field goal by Stephen Gostkowski last year against Philadelphia.
___
7 p.m.
Stephen Gostkowski was wide left on a 46-yard field goal attempt that would have given New England the early lead in the Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams.
It also marked the first missed kick by any NFL kicker this season in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the home of the Atlanta Falcons.
After the Patriots’ first offensive possession ended in an interception by Tom Brady — just the second on the opening drive of a playoff game in the quarterback’s career– the Rams went three-and-out.
New England got the ball at its 12, and questionable officiating quickly became an issue when Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman was penalized for hitting a defenseless receiver after Brady’s pass to Rex Burkhead on second-and-14 went for a 4-yard loss.
Instead of third-and-18 from the Patriots 16, New England got a first down at the 35. Brady then marched the offense down the field — only to see the usually reliable Gostkowski miss.
Robey-Coleman was involved in the now-infamous play during which he was not penalized for his hit on Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis. No flag was thrown for pass interference for the helmet-to-helmet nature of the hit — for which Robey-Coleman was fined $26,739 by the NFL — possibly altering the outcome of Los Angeles’ 26-23 overtime victory.
___
6:30 p.m.
Los Angeles has won the coin toss — but will start the Super Bowl on defense.
New England special teams standout and captain Matthew Slater called heads and the coin turned up tails — but the Rams deferred, giving Tom Brady and the Patriots the ball first.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s youngest daughter Bernice King and civil rights pioneers John Lewis and Andrew Young stood at midfield with the players for the toss.
___
5:55 p.m.
Dave Grohl was still floating from the Foo Fighters’ star-studded show the night before as he walked toward Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“An amazing night,” the Foo Fighters frontman told The Associated Press. “Great show. An absolute blast.”
Asked if he was planning a surprise appearance at the halftime show, Grohl smiled. “I can’t do any press. Sorry about that, but we’re lucky enough to be able to come to the game today. It’s a beautiful day. I love this city and I’m looking forward to it.”
Maroon 5, Travis Scott and Big Boi are the featured acts at halftime, but the Super Bowl show is renowned for last-minute, surprise guests.
The Foo Fighters played a sold-out show Saturday night before 8,500 in Atlantic Station. Queen drummer Roger Taylor sat in for a cover of “Under Pressure.” Tom Morello and Zac Brown came out for Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” and stayed onstage when Perry Farrell, the frontman of Jane’s Addiction, played “Mountain Song.”
Grohl, walking to the game with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, was looking forward to a fun night.
“Hopefully somewhere where there’s cold beer and jalapeno peppers,” he said with a grin.
___
5:25 p.m.
The Super Bowl teams had no surprises on their lists of inactive players.
Defensive tackle Danny Shelton and defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. both returned to the Patriots’ active roster after missing the AFC championship game. Also active were linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who missed a practice this week with an illness, and defensive lineman Malcom Brown, who was limited with a calf injury.
The Rams had no roster decisions to make with no significant injuries. Running back Todd Gurley, kicker Greg Zuerlein and defensive back Blake Countess were all ready to go after being cautious in recent practices.
New England’s seven inactive players: tight end Stephen Anderson, offensive lineman James Ferentz, safety Obi Melifonwu, defensive linemen Ufomba Kamalu and Keionta Davis, defensive end Derek Rivers and defensive back Duke Dawson.
Los Angeles’ inactives : defensive back Darious Williams, running back Justin Davis, linebackers Ogbo Okoronkwo and Trevon Young, offensive lineman Jamil Demby and defensive tackles Sebastian Joseph-Day and Tanzel Smart.
___
3:50 p.m.
Is Gladys Knight going to hit some long notes today? If so, there could be money to be made.
The over-under for Knight’s rendition of the national anthem is set at 110 seconds by Bovada — one of many side-action wagers available for today’s Super Bowl, the most heavily bet event of the year.
The color of the first bag of Doritos featured during a Super Bowl commercial? The favorite is red at 3-2.
If you believe President Trump’s tweet count will be higher than the number of Tom Brady touchdown passes, then you can wager $140 to win $100.
Oh, also: New England is a 2 1/2-point pick to beat Los Angeles.
___
3:15 p.m.
Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke got off to a losing start to Super Bowl Sunday.
Arsenal, the London soccer team owned by Kroenke since 2011, lost 3-1 at Manchester City in the Premier League.
The defeat could prove costly for Kroenke, with Arsenal down to sixth in the standings and three points adrift of the four spots to qualify for the lucrative Champions League European competition.
Arsenal has 13 games of the 38-match Premier League season remaining. Kroenke has faced criticism from Arsenal fans about the lack of investment in the team.
___
2:45 p.m.
The NFL has announced plans for Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s retractable roof to be open for the pregame show, including a flyover by the Air Force Thunderbirds, and then closed for the game.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says the plan is to have the roof closed for the teams’ pregame warmups on the field. The retractable roof then will open for the pregame ceremony.
McCarthy says the plan could be affected by a change in weather.
The Thunderbirds practiced the flyover with the roof open on Saturday night as close as possible to the planned time for Sunday’s pregame show.
There was scattered rain in Atlanta on Sunday morning. The forecast called temperatures in the 50s for the start of the game at 6:30 p.m.
____
2 p.m.
The city of Atlanta had to wait 19 years and build a $1.5 billion stadium to get its third Super Bowl.
Falcons President and CEO Rich McKay is confident it won’t take nearly that long for the big game to return to the A-T-L for the fourth time.
McKay says the city and team made it clear that Mercedes-Benz Stadium was constructed with the idea of hosting multiple Super Bowls, not just a single title game.
He expects Atlanta to become a regular part of the Super Bowl rotation with cities that are warmer in the winter, such as Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix and perhaps Los Angeles. He points to all the downtown facilities that are within walking distance of each other, including the stadium, numerous hotels, the Georgia World Congress Center, State Farm Arena and Centennial Olympic Park. All played major roles in this week’s Super Bowl activities.
Atlanta hosted the college football championship game last year, and the NCAA men’s Final Four will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2020. The city is also expected to have a major role in soccer’s 2026 World Cup.
McKay says: “On the big-event scale, we can be as good a host as anybody, because we have the airport and we have the footprint to really deliver. I hope that’s what this week shows.”
___
12:40 p.m.
No matter what happens in today’s Super Bowl, Patriots coach Bill Belichick will be on top of the record book.
He has already coached in more Super Bowls than any other coach (nine going on 10) and already has more wins than any other coach (five with a chance for six).
If the Patriots lose, Belichick will also find himself sharing space the top of the ‘L’ column with his fourth loss. There are some pretty good names there, though: Don Shula, Bud Grant, Marv Levy and Dan Reeves.
___
12:10 p.m.
The Los Angeles Rams will attempt to cap their remarkable two-year turnaround under coach Sean McVay with their franchise’s first Super Bowl championship in 19 years.
Just three seasons after returning to LA from St. Louis, the Rams are heading into Mercedes-Benz Stadium led by quarterback Jared Goff, running back Todd Gurley, two-time AP Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald and McVay.
The Rams had been through 13 consecutive non-winning seasons and hadn’t won a playoff game in 12 years before they hired McVay, who was 30 at the time. The youngest head coach in modern NFL history immediately engineered a seven-game improvement last season.
He followed it up by taking them to the Super Bowl for the first time in 17 years. Now 33, McVay would be the youngest coach ever to win a Super Bowl.
___
11:30 a.m.
Today’s game between the Rams and Patriots marks the eighth rematch in Super Bowl history.
Good news for the Patriots: The team that won the previous matchup is 4-3. New England defeated the Rams, then in St. Louis, 20-17 back in 2002.
Pittsburgh and Dallas have met three times. Pittsburgh won the first rematch, a 35-31 thriller in Super Bowl 13. Then, 17 years later, Dallas defeated the Steelers 27-17.
Other rematches:
–Redskins 27, Dolphins 17 in Super Bowl 17; a rematch of Miami’s perfection-capping victory in Super Bowl 7.
–Giants 21, Patriots 17 in Super Bowl 46; a rematch of New York’s win, which spoiled New England’s run at an undefeated season, four years earlier.
–Cowboys 30, Bills 13 in Super Bowl 38; a rematch of Dallas’ crushing of the Bills the previous year.
–Eagles 41, Patriots 33 in Super Bowl 52; a rematch of New England’s win in Super Bowl 39.
