FMQB: 7 Stages of “Good Grief”
Avid readers might notice that I have not put out my post-Super Bowl, well, post yet. It’s been a long 2 weeks, of reflecting, of sadness, of acceptance, and hope. Good grief was that a terrible game. And I don’t mean as a spectator (I’ll get into that), I mean as a Rams fan. To be the #2 scoring offense in the league, and then show up in the biggest game of your life and not be able to get into the endzone was downright embarrassing. I’m not going to go into an in depth breakdown of stats and drives, because quite frankly there wasn’t much.
If you would have told me on Saturday that the Rams were going to hold the Patriots to 13 points, I would have been jumping up and down and celebrating the victory before the game was already played. Additionally, when Brady was picked off on his very first pass attempt, I also thought good things were coming.
Super Bowl Thoughts:
- You know it’s a bad day for your team when the announcers are jumping up and down because your punter set a new Super Bowl record
- Nobody is admitting anything, but something is up with Todd Gurley. He had 10 carries (although most in the 2nd half), and 4 in the Saints game. That’s 14 carries in 2 games, he had 14 or more in 11 games the entire season!
- The fact that the Patriots’ final possession ended in a field goal was the reason the Rams DESERVED to lose the game. They took the ball from their own 5 yard line 71 yards on ALL RUNS, when even casual football fans knew they were trying to run out the clock. Stack the box.
- I hate to say it, but if the Saints would have been in the Super Bowl, I think they would have beaten the Patriots.
- While I feel “over” this Super Bowl much faster than I did 2001, this doesn’t help my respect for what they’re doing, sort of put me in the sour category again.
- I haven’t had a chance to watch the AAF yet, but it sounds like it may actually be an intriguing option?!?!
Super Stat of the Week:
This was the lowest scoring Super Bowl in 53 games. Ironic that it came during the season that had collectively the most points scored in NFL history
Super Stat of the Week #2:
Tom Brady became the first player to win 6 Super Bowls, surpassing Charles Haley
Super Stat of the Week #3:
Tom Brady became the oldest QB to win a ring, and Bill Belichick became the oldest head coach to win a ring
Super Stat of the Week #4:
The Patriots are now tied with the Steelers with the most titles (6). Tom Brady also has as many titles as Pittsburgh has
Super Stat of the Week #5:
The Patriots 13 points were the lowest points scored by a winning team in the Super Bowl
Super Stat of the Week #6:
The Rams became only the 2nd team not to score a TD, and they tied the lowest point total with 3
Super Stat of the Week #7:
The Rams had their most punts of the season with 9. During the season, Hekker didn’t hit his 9th punt until the 6th game of the season!
Super Stat of the Week #8:
No team entered the red zone until there was less than 7 minutes left in the game. That was the only red zone play for either side for the entire game.
Super Stat of the Week #9:
27 of the Rams 60 plays went for zero or negative yards
Crappy Super Bowl?
While I have to say I agree with the fact it was a crappy Super Bowl, reflecting on it, I’d much rather have this than the 43-8 Seattle vs. Denver blowout. The Rams were in the game until the final 2 minutes. One play flips the script, and theoretically they had a miniscule chance to tie the game with a series of events with 10 seconds left in the game. Sure the punting was terrible, sure the lack of red zone plays made for less than exciting TV, but either team was a score away from winning it deep into the 4th quarter. The Bucs win or Seattle’s win were terrible games unless you were a fan of either of the winners. We’ve been blessed by a myriad of exciting Super Bowls, and have gotten out of the ‘80s slump where 2 of the 10 games were within a possession. So while I’m not taking the Trey Wingo approach and jumping up and down, it still wasn’t the mind-numbing game America is playing it off to be.
Patriots Dynasty Stat:
Believe it or not, this was the highest margin of victory for a Patriots team in the Super Bowl
Memes of the Week: