SafekipediaSuper Bowl LIII
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Super Bowl LIII
Super Bowl LIII was an American football game that decided the champion of the National Football League for the 2018 season. The New England Patriots won against the Los Angeles Rams with a score of 13–3. The game took place on February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. This was the first time that stadium hosted the Super Bowl.
The Patriots’ win gave them their sixth Super Bowl title, tying them with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most championships. This was New England's 11th Super Bowl appearance and their third in a row. The Rams, led by the youngest head coach in Super Bowl history, Sean McVay, had a strong season but couldn’t score any touchdowns during the game. This Super Bowl was notable for being the lowest-scoring in NFL history. The Patriots scored the only touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, securing their victory.
Background
Host-selection process
On May 19, 2015, the league said four cities could host Super Bowl LIII in 2019. NFL owners voted on May 24, 2016, and Atlanta was chosen to host the game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. This was the first Super Bowl there. The other cities that wanted to host were Miami Gardens, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Tampa, Florida.
The NFL showed the official logo for Super Bowl LIII in February 2018. The logo was navy blue and used the design from Super Bowl LI. The game's colors were blue and red. The host committee logo showed a view of Mercedes-Benz Stadium's roof.
Associated events
Pre-game events and entertainment happened in downtown Atlanta. State Farm Arena hosted Super Bowl Opening Night, and the Georgia World Congress Center hosted the Super Bowl Experience and Super Bowl Live at Centennial Olympic Park. State Farm Arena also had the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest. It was a three-night concert with Ludacris, Migos, Aerosmith, Post Malone, Bruno Mars, and Cardi B. The NFL also started its 100th season at Super Bowl LIII with a special ad during the game.
Teams
New England Patriots
Main article: 2018 New England Patriots season
The New England Patriots finished the 2018 season with an 11–5 record. They reached the Super Bowl for the third year in a row. Quarterback Tom Brady, at age 41, made his 14th Pro Bowl appearance and helped the team score many points.
Los Angeles Rams
Main article: 2018 Los Angeles Rams season
The Los Angeles Rams also finished the 2018 season with an 11–5 record. Under young head coach Sean McVay, the Rams improved greatly. Quarterback Jared Goff played much better in his third season, leading the team to many victories.
Playoffs
Main article: 2018–19 NFL playoffs
See also: 2018 NFC Championship Game
In the playoffs, the Patriots and Rams both had byes in the first round. The Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers and then the Kansas City Chiefs to reach the Super Bowl. The Rams defeated the Dallas Cowboys and then the New Orleans Saints in a close game.
Pre-game notes
The Patriots and Rams had met before in Super Bowl XXXVI, but only Tom Brady and Bill Belichick remained from that game. This Super Bowl had big age differences between the teams' quarterbacks and coaches. The Rams chose special uniforms for the game, while the Patriots wore their usual away uniforms. Fans from both cities were very excited, as it was the thirteenth time teams from Boston and Los Angeles met in a major sports championship.
Broadcasting
United States
Television
Super Bowl LIII was shown on CBS. CBS takes turns showing the Super Bowl with other big TV networks. This was CBS’s 20th time showing the Super Bowl. The broadcast had Jim Nantz as the main announcer and Tony Romo as the analyst. This was Tony Romo’s first Super Bowl as an analyst. The coverage used 115 cameras, including special 8K cameras. It also had cool graphics using technology called augmented reality.
Advertising
Ads during the Super Bowl cost about $5 million for a 30-second spot. There were fewer ads than in past years, but CBS made a lot of money from them—around $382 million. Big companies like Anheuser-Busch and Mercedes-Benz bought many ads. For the first time, the NFL won an award for the best ad of the game. The ad celebrated the league’s 100th season.
Ratings
About 98.2 million people watched the game on TV. This was the smallest audience for a Super Bowl in many years. Some people thought fewer people watched because the game had few points and some fans were unhappy with a big mistake in an earlier game. In New Orleans, where a local team had lost because of that mistake, many people decided not to watch the Super Bowl.
Streaming
For the first time, people could watch the Super Bowl on CBS’s streaming service, CBS All Access. They could also watch it through the CBS Sports app, CBSSports.com, the Yahoo! Sports app, and the Tumblr app.
Radio
The game was also broadcast on radio by Westwood One. SiriusXM provided the broadcast in eight languages. It also carried local broadcasts from Boston and Los Angeles.
International
In Canada, the game was shown on CTV, CTV 2, and TSN. In Australia and New Zealand, ESPN Australia aired the game with their Monday Night Football commentary team. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the game was broadcast on BBC One and several Sky Sports channels.
Entertainment
Some famous musicians performed at Super Bowl LIII. Some artists chose not to perform because they supported a player who protested by kneeling during a special song before the game.
Two men became the first male cheerleaders to perform at a big sports event in the United States. Another person was the first openly gay cameraman to film the Super Bowl.
Pre-game
Before the game started, the roof of the stadium was open. Two sisters from Atlanta, Chloe x Halle, sang a song called "America the Beautiful". Another singer from Atlanta, Gladys Knight, sang "The Star-Spangled Banner". A man named Aarron Loggins signed the songs so people who use sign language could enjoy them too. After the songs, airplanes flew over in a special show.
Some important people, including Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., helped flip a coin to decide who would start the game.
Halftime show
The band Maroon 5 led the halftime show, with Travis Scott joining them. They also had Big Boi from the group Outkast as a guest. They showed a short clip from the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants, honoring the creator Stephen Hillenburg, who passed away in 2018.
Game summary
The New England Patriots played against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII to decide the champion of the National Football League for the 2018 season. The game took place on February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
In the first half, the Patriots scored three points with a field goal. The Rams had very few yards gained. At halftime, the Patriots led 3–0.
In the second half, the Rams scored three points with another field goal, tying the game. The Patriots then scored the only touchdown of the game, making the score 10–3. They added another field goal later to win 13–3. This was the New England Patriots' sixth Super Bowl victory. Tom Brady became the first player to win six Super Bowls, and Julian Edelman was named the game's most valuable player. The Rams were the second team in Super Bowl history to not score a touchdown in the entire game.
Final statistics
| Statistic | New England Patriots | Los Angeles Rams |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 22 | 14 |
| First downs rushing | 6 | 2 |
| First downs passing | 12 | 11 |
| First downs penalty | 4 | 1 |
| Third down efficiency | 3/12 | 3/13 |
| Fourth down efficiency | 0/1 | 0/0 |
| Total net yards | 407 | 260 |
| Net yards rushing | 154 | 62 |
| Rushing attempts | 32 | 18 |
| Yards per rush | 4.8 | 3.4 |
| Yards passing | 253 | 198 |
| Passing–completions/attempts | 21/35 | 19/38 |
| Times sacked–total yards | 1–9 | 4–31 |
| Interceptions thrown | 1 | 1 |
| Punt returns–total yards | 2–2 | 2–12 |
| Kickoff returns–total yards | 1–38 | 1–27 |
| Interceptions–total return yards | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Punts–average yardage | 5–43 | 9–46.3 |
| Fumbles–lost | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Penalties–yards | 3–20 | 9–65 |
| Time of possession | 33:10 | 26:50 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 1 |
| Records set (Unless noted as "NFL Championships," all records refer only to Super Bowls) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Most appearances, team | 11 | New England Patriots |
| Fewest points scored, winning team | 13 | |
| Most consecutive drives ending with a punt | 8 | Los Angeles Rams |
| Fewest touchdowns, first 3 quarters (both teams) | 0 | Super Bowl LIII |
| Fewest touchdowns (both teams, game) | 1 | |
| Fewest PATs (both teams, game) | 1 | |
| Fewest kickoff returns (both teams, game) | 2 | |
| Fewest points, first 3 quarters (both teams) | 6 | |
| Fewest points (both teams, game) | 16 | |
| Most appearances, player | 9 | Tom Brady (New England) |
| Most appearances, starting player | 9 | |
| Most wins, player | 6 | |
| Most pass attempts, player (career) | 392 | |
| Most pass completions, player (career) | 256 | |
| Most passing yards, player (career) | 2,838 | |
| Oldest quarterback, player | 41 years, 183 days | |
| Oldest quarterback, starting player | 41 years, 183 days | |
| Oldest quarterback to win | 41 years, 183 days | |
| Most appearances, head coach | 9 | Bill Belichick (New England) |
| Most appearances, coach | 12 | |
| Most appearances, any capacity | 12 | |
| Most won, head coach | 6 | |
| Most won, coach | 8 | |
| Most won, any capacity | 8 | |
| Oldest head coach, winning team | 66 years, 293 days | |
| Most appearances, kicker | 6 | Stephen Gostkowski (New England) |
| Most receptions, tight end (career) | 23 | Rob Gronkowski (New England) |
| Youngest head coach | 33 years, 10 days | Sean McVay (Los Angeles) |
| Longest punt | 65 yards | Johnny Hekker (Los Angeles) |
| Records tied | ||
| Most wins, team | 6 | New England Patriots |
| Most first downs by penalty, team | 4 | |
| Fewest touchdowns scored, winning team | 1 | |
| Fewest points, first half | 0 | Los Angeles Rams |
| Fewest points scored, team | 3 | |
| Fewest touchdowns scored, team | 0 | |
| Fewest points, first quarter (both teams) | 0 | Super Bowl LIII |
| Fewest passing touchdowns (both teams) | 0 | |
| Fewest fumbles lost (both teams) | 0 | |
| Most NFL championships won, head coach | 6 | Bill Belichick (New England) |
| Most NFL championships won, player | 6 | Tom Brady (New England) |
| Most receptions, first half | 7 | Julian Edelman (New England) |
| Most field goals, career | 7 | Stephen Gostkowski (New England) |
| Patriots passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT | Yds | TD | INT | Rating | |
| Tom Brady | 21/35 | 262 | 0 | 1 | 71.4 |
| Patriots rushing | |||||
| Car | Yds | TD | Lg | Yds/Car | |
| Sony Michel | 18 | 94 | 1 | 26 | 5.2 |
| Rex Burkhead | 7 | 43 | 0 | 26 | 6.1 |
| Julian Edelman | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 8.0 |
| Cordarrelle Patterson | 2 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 3.5 |
| James White | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2.0 |
| Tom Brady | 2 | −2 | 0 | −1 | –1.0 |
| Patriots receiving | |||||
| Rec | Yds | TD | Lg | Target | |
| Julian Edelman | 10 | 141 | 0 | 27 | 12 |
| Rob Gronkowski | 6 | 87 | 0 | 29 | 7 |
| Rex Burkhead | 2 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Cordarrelle Patterson | 2 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| James White | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| Chris Hogan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Sony Michel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Rams passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT | Yds | TD | INT | Rating | |
| Jared Goff | 19/38 | 229 | 0 | 1 | 57.9 |
| Rams rushing | |||||
| Car | Yds | TD | Lg | Yds/Car | |
| Todd Gurley | 10 | 35 | 0 | 16 | 3.5 |
| C. J. Anderson | 7 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 3.1 |
| Robert Woods | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5.0 |
| Rams receiving | |||||
| Rec | Yds | TD | Lg | Target | |
| Brandin Cooks | 8 | 120 | 0 | 24 | 13 |
| Robert Woods | 5 | 70 | 0 | 18 | 10 |
| Josh Reynolds | 3 | 28 | 0 | 11 | 7 |
| C. J. Anderson | 2 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| Todd Gurley | 1 | −1 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Gerald Everett | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Starting lineups
Officials
Super Bowl LIII had seven officials. The numbers in parentheses show their uniform numbers. John Parry became the second referee to retire after working the Super Bowl, following Gene Steratore who retired after Super Bowl LII.
- Referee: John Parry (132)
- Umpire: Fred Bryan (11)
- Down judge: Ed Camp (134)
- Line judge: Jeff Bergman (32)
- Field judge: Steve Zimmer (33)
- Side judge: Eugene Hall (103)
- Back judge: Terrence Miles (111)
- Replay official: Jim Lapetina
- Replay assistant: Chad Adams
- Alternate referee: Ron Torbert (62)
- Alternate umpire: Mark Pellis (131)
- Alternate wing: Tom Stephan (68)
- Alternate deep: Michael Banks (72)
- Alternate back judge: Rich Martinez (39)
Aftermath
Patriots
After winning, the New England Patriots celebrated in Boston on February 5. Thousands of fans joined a parade on special boats, called duck boats, through the city streets. The weather was warm for that time of year.
One of the team’s star players, Rob Gronkowski, decided to stop playing after the Super Bowl. The team started the next season well, but lost a few games later. They still won their division but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Tennessee Titans. This was the last game for famous quarterback Tom Brady with the Patriots. He later joined another team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and won another Super Bowl with them.
The Patriots didn’t reach the Super Bowl again until 2026, but they lost that game.
Rams
The Los Angeles Rams didn’t do as well for the next few seasons. Their main quarterback, Jared Goff, played poorly and was replaced during a game. The team made some changes and brought in a new quarterback, Matthew Stafford. With Stafford, the Rams improved and won their division. They even reached the Super Bowl again and won it, playing in front of their home fans. It was their first Super Bowl victory while based in Los Angeles.
Images
Related articles
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Super Bowl LIII, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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