Super Bowl 53 did not start off as ideally as the rest of the Patriots’ playoff run. But it still might include their dream ending.
Tom Brady was picked off on his first very pass of the showdown with the Rams on Sunday, Stephen Gostkowski soon missed a make-able field goal and somehow, someway, the Patriots were winning in Sunday’s fourth quarter.
New England, behind a defense that surprisingly silenced the Rams’ high-powered attack, was up 10-3 after a Sony Michel 2-yard plunge with 7 minutes left to play. At that point Brady was just 21-of-35 for 262 yards with that one interception, but he still was greatly outplaying Jared Goff (13-of-27 for 127 yards).
It did not start well. On a second-and-7 from the Los Angeles 34, the 41-year-old Brady passed right for Chris Hogan. The throw was a bit high and it went off Hogan’s fingertips and into the diving arms of Cory Littleton.
It was the first time in Brady’s illustrious postseason history that he was intercepted on his very first pass.
Brady and Co. got another chance soon, though, and marched into field-goal position — only for Gostkowski to miss a 46-yarder. Gostkowski, who also missed a kick in last year’s Super Bowl, would bounce back and hit a 42-yarder, as the Patriots grabbed a 3-0 lead.
Unfortunately for the Rams, they hadn’t been able to capitalize on New England’s mistakes.
