And lets not forget young guy in his first super bowl not a whole lot of young qbs that do well in their first SB other guys 25 or younger to start in a super bowl Marino 29 of 50 (58%) for 318 1 td 2 int Joe Namath 17 of 28 (60%) for 206 0 Tds 0 Int Joe Montana 14 of 22 (63%) for 157 1TD 0 Int David Woodley 4 of 14 (29%) 97 yards 1 TD 1 Int Drew Bledsoe 25 of 48 (52%) 254 yards 2 TDs 4 Int Tom Brady 16 of 27 (59%) 145 Yards 1 TD 0 Int Ben Roethlisberger 9 of 21 (43%) 123 yards 0 Tds 2 Int Kaepernick 16 of 28 (57%) 302 yards 1 TD 1 Int Russell Wilson 18 of 25 (72%) 206 Yards 2 Tds 0 Int Goff 19 of 38 (50%) 229 yards 0 Tds 1 Int
He did well enough not to lose the games after the first 3 games following the bye. I'm not saying he didn't make plays or didn't improve to some degree but he was trying more to not lose the game IMO, which is good, but he needed to get into the game more, be a leader. When the Pats came and gave him everything he was stuck because he had nothing to look back on since the Chiefs game on how he himself could lead the team, outside of possibly after the No Call vs the Saints. He was conditioned by himself and possibly his coach to manage the game and not mess up while relying on the run perhaps. That wasn't good enough today and the Rams and Goff needed to know that it eventually could bite them in the butt. In the end the schedule might have been the reason for the downfall. Like I was suggesting, the 49ers and Cardinals don't really count and I don't think those performances really helped him much, so the playoffs come, the Cowboys are playing them tight and the run is doing well. Don't make mistakes, let the rest of the team get the W and then well he never had a chance to be himself as he showed he could clearly be pre-bye. He did improve some after but he needed the confidence with experience IMO and both him and his coach failed in that. It could have simply been that they couldn't adjust without Kupp quickly enough and then it was too late. But something was definitely wrong and it's still enough to be trash IMO. I'm not saying he is trash, just that he played like it at the end. He is a very good QB and as mentioned very young. I think both had a learning experience, and possibly McVay on of all things, needing to be aggressive (with Goff) and not just on game situation calls.
By the reactions of what seems to be, a majority of posters across the site, I can see why the higher-ups are trying to change the game into a shootout. Ive seen this in all major sports... a defensive struggle/chess match isn't very popular it seems. Tim, off the top of my head, was the only one I can recall that thought this was a good SB. I agree, it was. On the other hand, I expected more offense, but at the same time didn't need it to justify whether or not this was a good game. Bottom line for me is - it was interesting to see the strategies unfold, but then again, I like a pitchers dual from time to time and a 2-1, 1-0 NHL game. Its the action within the game itself that adds to the whole picture. The 'war in the trench's' was my favorite part to watch last night... it ultimately decided the game, in my opinion.
That's possible, but I still think it's simpler than that. Goff is a pocket passer that thrives in a clean pocket and struggles under pressure. It's what he was coming out of college and he is still the same player. The Patriots forced the Rams into a drop back game and they applied pressure on every snap, without having to use a lot of exotic blitzes. Because of this, the defensive backs were able to remain focused on leveling coverage in a manner that tightened windows and removed options. It was nearly flawless execution by the Patriots defense and the Rams never found a way to adjust their game plan to attack it.
Maybe im wrong but it didnt look like two defenses playing great last night. It looked more like two offenses playing tight/safe.
The coverage scheme the Patriots employed was rock solid, IMO. It doesn't work if the Pats don't get pressure up front from a minimal amount of rushers on most downs, but they tiered there defensive backs and were able to close on breaks to eliminate openings because they knew the ball would have to come out quickly. The Rams did exactly what you have to do to disrupt Brady. Bring pressure at his nose and force him to throw while adjusting his platform. They just looked to run out of gas later in the game and New England was able to get Sony rolling. Once the running game popped it kind of opened things up for Brady.
One thing that I observed throughout the 1st half was the Rams playing to deep/soft on defense giving a ton of 1st downs to Edelman. Brady to Edelman on short gains was killing the Rams. If the defense could have tightened up in the secondary coverage, they may have gotten off the field earlier giving the Rams offense more opportunity's with better field position. Seems like the Patriots were really good at taking advantage of what the Rams secondary was giving them. Smart football.
Im kinda leaning towards the opposite. I saw two high-powered offenses foiled by very quick defenses, forcing the plays. Was some really good hitting going on too. The game being the lowest scoring SB ever, quite frankly, surprised me. I did not anticipate that at all.
It may very well have been solid D i may have tomtry and rewatch it. What i do know is there were no real big memorable plays offensively or defensively. Niether interception was much to write home about and even most of the sacks were meh. The biggest defensive play I can remember was fowlers stop on michel on the last drive. The 60 second comercial with all the nfl players was more exciting and memorable to me than the game itself.
So basically all you have to do is watch this game and study what the pats did on D and his careers over.
Im a big fan of good Defensive football, and i acknowledge what both teams did on D last night, but personally i thought that was a very boring game. It was one of the worst SB's ive watched. I just don't think either team played that great on Offense. Particularly the Rams who were dogshit almost all the way round. I get the comments about the coaching/McVey etc, but imo this game was lost by Goff and the O-Line. I haven't really been critical of Goff this season, but that was a horrible performance, both pre and post snap. In particular Goff's complete inability to survey the field properly and get through progressions. At several points he reminded me a lot of Trubisky the way he seemed to be executing half-field reads. The difference is Nagy purposely included those this year to try to help Trubs, which wasn't the case with Goff, he was just playing shit. I thought the Rams receivers actually played pretty well. Multiple times guys got open and they just didn't get the ball. Thats not coaching, thats a QB not surveying the field properly. If you're a pocket passer and thats your game then you'd better be able to stand there and keep your wits about you in the face of pressure. Cos you'll be seeing plenty of it. Goff would be well served to study Brees' game. Ive always marveled at the way Brees seems to have so much time in the pocket. Its because he creates it. I think i commented on this at halftime but it was amazing how similar this game from Goff/the Offense was to the Bears game in week14. But to LAJoe's point about Goff should've taken more shots....if he had it prob would've ended up like the Bears game with 4picks. Because Goff wasn't going to the right place with the ball most times. I like the Rams, but its unfortunate they made the SB. The Saints/Brees would given the Pats a faaaar tougher game. If the Bears could've had a friendly double-doink they would've gone on to the NFCCG. Not saying they win the SB, or even beat the Saints tbh, but they would've made it as far as NO cos they would've crushed Goff again(imo) just like they did last time. Hey ho. Mention for the Rams OL too, cos they gave Goff zero help. They straight up got bitch slapped in this game. Couldn't control the POA in the run game, couldnt create the cutback lanes which is part of their game. And continually gave up sacks/pressures to a D that weren't bringing crazy levels of pressure and who had the second lowest sacks in the league in the regular season. The Rams OL were collectively horrible. Its fair to question if the Rams could've churned out an extra 10+ points even if Goff had played better, given the level of blocking in that game. When you score 3 points all game there's always plenty of blame to go around. The WR's get a pass imo, everyone else(inc Gurley) on O, total fail.
I'm not sure I can agree with this. If Cooks makes a play on either of the TD passes he had a chance at we're looking at a different momentum in the game. The one with double coverage would have been the tougher of the two, but he should have taken a better angle to time the reception on the one that McCourty hustled back to break up. They bracketed Woods for most of the game and played some one on one with Gilmore and Cooks (lots of zone read/react). I think their familiarity with what Brandin brings to the table gave the Patriots some confidence on what they could do to deal with him.
It is, that wasn't the same Qb from that mnf game. He didn't bring out his A game as far as passing, no accuracy and no zip, he flat out choked on the big stage.
He had some high quality throws and some poor ones, but he stood in the pocket taking hits to try and deliver. He got the snot knocked out of him and never backed away from it. I'm not knocking anyone for having the opinion that Goff choked. I personally don't agree with that take but it's up for interpretation. It's being reported today that Brian Flores called all of the plays on defense, and if that's the case then he should get the most credit of anyone for how the Patriots handled the Rams. On the flip side, Sean McVay should be taking the most heat for how poorly the Rams executed on offense. He never found a way to slip the counter punch that the Patriots kept delivering.
No but we are probably among the few that did Both teams had defensive game plans that were impressive. Both the #2 and #4 scoring offenses didn't have an answer for either Defensive game plan. While there are those who will disagree, I stand by the claim that Defense Wins Championships
The superior game plan almost always takes home the hardware, but I think people definitely notice it more when a defense is dominant in a win.
Fwiw, I enjoyed that SB immensely. Had a few long shot props in play, had no tds in the game at 200/1. Wound up losing $15 but almost came in at 3k.
