Super Bowl LIII

Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams, 13–3. The game was played on February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and was the first Super Bowl played at the stadium.

The Patriots' victory was their sixth, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl championships. New England, after finishing the regular season with an 11–5 record, advanced to their 11th Super Bowl appearance, their third in a row, and their ninth under the leadership of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. The Rams finished the regular season with a 13–3 record under head coach Sean McVay, the youngest head coach in the Super Bowl at 33, as they advanced to their fourth Super Bowl appearance and their first since relocating back from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016. The two franchises previously met in Super Bowl XXXVI, the first championship won by Belichick and Brady and the beginning of the Patriots dynasty. It was the 13th meeting in a major sports championship between the Greater Los Angeles and Greater Boston areas and the first championship between the two regions in the NFL. The game also marked the first Super Bowl appearance of a Los Angeles-based team since the Los Angeles Raiders appeared in 1983's Super Bowl XVIII and the Rams' first as a Los Angeles team since 1979's Super Bowl XIV.

Super Bowl LIII was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in NFL history, as both teams' defenses dominated the first three quarters. The game marked the first Super Bowl in which neither team had a touchdown through the first three quarters, with the Patriots and the Rams fighting to a 3–3 tie entering the fourth. In the final quarter, New England scored 10 unanswered points to claim victory, including the game's only touchdown by running back Sony Michel. The Patriots' one touchdown tied them with the New York Jets in Super Bowl III for the fewest by a winning Super Bowl team, while the Rams became the second Super Bowl team to not score a touchdown after the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, who caught 10 passes for 141 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP. Brady and Belichick became the oldest starting quarterback and head coach to win the Super Bowl at 41 and 66, respectively, and Brady was also the first starting quarterback to win the Super Bowl in his 40s. It marked the final Super Bowl of the Brady-Belichick dynasty, as Brady departed New England after the 2019 season. Belichick stepped down after the 2023 season, and New England wouldn't return to the Super Bowl until Super Bowl LX in the 2025 season, this time led by head coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Drake Maye.

The broadcast of the game on CBS, along with the halftime show headlined by American pop group Maroon 5, saw the smallest Super Bowl audience in 10 years. Due to its low-scoring nature and both teams' offensive struggles, the game has been regarded as one of the worst Super Bowls, although the defensive performances of both teams are considered among the greatest.

Background

Host-selection process

On May 19, 2015, the league announced the four finalists that would compete to host Super Bowl LIII in 2019, LIV in 2020 and LV in 2021. NFL owners voted on these cities on May 24, 2016, with the first round of voting determining the host for Super Bowl LIII, the second round deciding a different site for Super Bowl LIV and the third round deciding the site for Super Bowl LV. The four finalists for Super Bowl LIII, all in the Southeastern United States, were:

• Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta: This would be the first Super Bowl played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium after it opened in 2017. The city had previously hosted two Super Bowls at the Georgia Dome, with the last being Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.
• Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida: South Florida had previously hosted 10 Super Bowls, with the last being Super Bowl XLIV in 2010.
• Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana: New Orleans had previously hosted 10 Super Bowls, with the last being Super Bowl XLVII in 2013.
• Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida: Tampa had hosted four Super Bowls, with the last being Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.

After three votes, Atlanta was awarded Super Bowl LIII at the NFL owners' meeting on May 24, 2016. The losing candidates, except for New Orleans which removed itself from the voting for all games except Super Bowl LIII due to event conflicts in 2020 and 2021, were then pitted against SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California for Super Bowl LIV and Super Bowl LV hosting rights. Miami eventually won the rights to host Super Bowl LIV and Los Angeles won the rights to host Super Bowl LV. However, on May 23, 2017, NFL owners opted to award Super Bowl LV to Tampa and give Super Bowl LVI to Los Angeles after it was announced that SoFi Stadium would open in 2020 due to construction delays. New Orleans would be awarded Super Bowl LVIII (later changed to Super Bowl LIX due to expanding the regular season to 17 games and causing conflict with Mardi Gras).

The NFL unveiled the official logo for Super Bowl LIII in February 2018; it is a navy blue-tinted version of the design that was introduced at Super Bowl LI, and the overall branding of the game featured use of blue and red. The host committee logo featured a stylized overhead rendition of Mercedes-Benz Stadium's roof.

Associated events

Pre-game events and entertainment were centered around downtown Atlanta, with State Farm Arena having hosted Super Bowl Opening Night, the Georgia World Congress Center hosting the Super Bowl Experience and Super Bowl Live at Centennial Olympic Park. State Farm Arena also hosted the inaugural Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest, a three-night concert series that was headlined by Ludacris and Migos (night 1), Aerosmith and Post Malone (night 2), and Bruno Mars and Cardi B (night 3). The show competed with a "Super Saturday Night" concert held by DirecTV at a temporary venue near Atlantic Station, headlined by the Foo Fighters and featuring Roger Taylor, Zac Brown, Tom Morello, Perry Farrell and Dave Koz as special guests.

The NFL officially launched its centennial commemorations at Super Bowl LIII, ahead of its 100th season. A themed, two-minute advertisement was aired during the game.

Teams

New England Patriots

The Patriots finished the 2018 season with an 11–5 record to earn the #2 seed in the AFC and their 17th season with at least ten wins in their 19 years under 66-year-old head coach Bill Belichick. They went on to join the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills as the only teams in NFL history to ever reach three consecutive Super Bowls. Though the team had only two Pro Bowl selections, they scored 436 points (fourth in the league) while giving up only 325 (seventh fewest).

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady earned his 14th Pro Bowl selection at age 41, finishing the season with 4,355 passing yards and 29 touchdowns, with only 11 interceptions, while also rushing for 35 yards and two more scores on the ground. These totals made him just the second quarterback in NFL history to amass 70,000 career passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. His top receiver from the previous season, Brandin Cooks, was traded to the eventual Super Bowl rival Rams, but Julian Edelman, who not only had missed the previous season with a torn ACL injury but was suspended for the first four games of the regular season after testing positive for PEDs, returned to catch 74 receptions for a team-leading 850 yards and six touchdowns, while also returning 20 punts for 154 yards. Other key receivers included Chris Hogan (35 receptions for 553 yards and three touchdowns) and Josh Gordon (40 receptions for 720 yards and three touchdowns), though Gordon would end up leaving the team to focus on his mental health after 11 games when faced with a suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Tight end Rob Gronkowski added 47 receptions for 682 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, the running game featured a dynamic new weapon, rookie halfback Sony Michel, who lead the team with 931 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns, along with veteran James White who racked up 1,176 yards from scrimmage while leading the team in receptions (87) and total touchdowns (12). On special teams, receiver Cordarrelle Patterson returned 23 kickoffs for 663 yards and a touchdown, an average of 28.8 yards per return (third in the NFL), while also catching 21 passes for 247 yards, rushing for 228 yards and scoring four touchdowns on offense.

On defense, defensive end Trey Flowers led the team with 7.5 sacks and also forced three fumbles. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy led the team in total tackles (92), while also recording 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. In the secondary, safety Duron Harmon led the team in interceptions for the second year in a row with four, while Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore intercepted two passes and forced two fumbles. Safety Patrick Chung also made an impact with 84 total tackles to go with an interception and a fumble recovery. The Patriots secondary also featured twin brothers Jason McCourty and Devin McCourty, who both had an interception each. Devin had 82 tackles, while Jason had 70.