The Los Angeles Rams lost Super Bowl LIII in one of the most frustrating ways possible -- their very talented, high-scoring offense managed only a field goal in a 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
The Rams were held scoreless in the first half and couldn't find the end zone in the second half. Their most promising drive late in the fourth quarter ended when quarterback Jared Goff threw a pass that was intercepted by Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore.
So, what did the Patriots do to slow down the Rams' offense?
“Bill (Belichick) does a great job of putting his team in the right position,” Rams running back C.J. Anderson said Tuesday on FOX Sports 1 show "Undisputed."
“They played great gap control against us. They gave us some different coverages that was not shown on tape. If anybody wants to go back and watch the Super Bowl — if you watch their season, 90 percent they've been in (man-to-man defense). They play a little zone (here and there) but they probably played 80 percent zone against us, because they probably didn’t think they had the best matchups.”
Why the change in defensive strategy for the Patriots?
“I think it was to help stop our big plays," Anderson said. "Just from the outside when I was watching the Rams when they came on primetime, big plays got the offense going. The run game got the offense going. So if you slow down the run game and then you limited the big plays. Obviously, we had plenty against Dallas and then our big plays against New Orleans were just enough to find a way to win. I think (the Patriots) slowed down all our big plays, and it was kind of frustrating, and that’s kind of how the game went. It sucks.”
New England Patriots
The Patriots did limit the Rams on the ground, holding L.A. to just 62 rushing yards on 18 carries (3.4 yards per attempts). New England's defense gave its best performance of the season when it mattered most, and that's one of the main reasons why the team won its sixth Lombardi Trophy.
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