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With the Los Angeles Rams boasting the rebirth of The Greatest Show on Turf in 2018, Bill Belichick and the Patriots had the odds stacked against them going into Super Bowl LIII. However, despite being statistically incapable of keeping up with Sean McVay's high-flying Rams offense, Belichick flipped the script on that fateful night of Feb. 3, 2019 to pull off a masterclass that would go down in NFL history.
While the Rams came into the game off a controversial ending to their NFC championship game against the Saints, the Patriots earned their spot in primetime out-gunning 5,000-yard passer Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, 37-31.
Super Bowl LIII was a showdown filled with Pro Bowlers. Averaging an astounding 33 points per game in 2018, the Rams starred quarterback Jared Goff and running back Todd Gurley on offense. They also had Aaron Donald and Cory Littleton holding the front of DC Wade Phillips' defense.
New England, conversely, only had Pro Bowl firepower in cornerback Stephon Gilmore and quarterback Tom Brady. The outfit had a mountain to climb in the Super Bowl, given that they also had to contend with LA wideouts Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp; Woods and Cooks of whom both bagged 1,200+ receiving yards that campaign.
Bill Belichick learned a lesson against Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship
Despite holding the reins to the No.4 offense in pro football that season, Bill Belichick opted to play to his strength in Super Bowl LIII - defense.
While Tom Brady narrowly out-shot Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship, Belichick wasn't a fan of how the game got out of hand. Subsequently, instead of trying to win a shootout against Sean McVay's reboot of The Greatest Show on Turf, Belichick put his 4-3 defense, with Trey Flowers on the front line, up against the piping hot LA Rams. It turned out to be a move that made NFL history.
As the Rams' offense was built on the run game of Gurley, followed by play-action passes to Woods and Cooks, Belichick knew exactly where he had to drill his opponents.
He pinned down Gurley, holding him to under four yards a carry, thus disrupting LA's passing game. Jared Goff was forced to go toe-to-toe with the legendary Tom Brady, all while having no run game to feed off.
Belichick cooked up the perfect mismatch, as he could then focus on his chess game against the Rams' 1,200-yard receivers. It was the mastermind Bill Belichick up against the kid-genius Sean McVay.
While Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips made for a worthy adversary in a game of sophisticated defense, Belichick's artistry in pancaking LA's powerhouse offense proved to be superior. Long balls down field from Goff came to nothing, as he hardly completed a pass on third down.
In a head-to-head showdown of pure tactics, the scoreboard ticked slowly, with the score standing at 3-3 heading into the fourth. However, it was then when Bill Belichick delivered his masterstroke.
Tom Brady sways the septre on one of the most iconic drives in Super Bowl history
While Tom Brady wasn't at all statistically brilliant throughout the encounter, he was exactly that when the game was on the line. Paired with Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, he made for a terrific weapon on one fateful drive in the fourth quarter.
Fans in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium once again got to drool at the touch of Tom Brady, as he drove an underfiring Patriots offense 69 yards to greatness. His pitch-perfect 29-yard touch pass to Rob Gronkowski was a moment that will live long in the memory of Patriots fans, and probably even longer in the mind of Wade Phillips.
Sony Michel's ensuing two-yard touchdown run, together with a Stephen Gostkowski field goal, eventually proved to be the final nail in the Rams' 13-3 coffin.
As Bill Belichick bagged his sixth and final Super Bowl win with New England, he also etched his name in the history books, having orchastrated the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in NFL history with his defensive mastery.
