It is en vogue to call Super Bowl LIII the worst Super Bowl ever. If you have read through my "53 Stops to Super Bowl LIII" then you would see at #14 my Worst Super Bowls Ever. Super Bowl V is still the worst ever (there were 11 turnovers in that game, a ton of penalties and a defensive player on the losing team won the MVP award) and there are other bad ones as well. That doesn't mean that next year, last night's game won't appear on a new list.
And that gets me to this: what happened last night that went with or against some of those 53 points? Let's take a look:
#52-PATRIOTS AND RAMS DO IT AGAIN: Patriots-Rams became the 7th rematch in Super Bowl history. Of those seven, Super Bowl LIII was the fourth where one team won both games. Two of them (Dolphins-Redskins, Patriots-Eagles) are splits. And the Cowboys-Steelers have met three times with Pittsburgh winning twice.
#46-AFC LOVES FEBRUARY: The AFC is now 11-6 in February Super Bowls.
#45-SCORE EARLY AND OFTEN: Well, there was no 'often' last night. But the Patriots did score first, making the team who scored first is now 36-17 in the Super Bowl. The team who scores the first touchdown is 39-14. Teams who lead at half are now 39-11.
#44-PATRIOTS AND RAMS ARE BACK: The Pats won their sixth Super Bowl, tying them with the Steelers for tops all-time. They are now 6-5 in Super Bowls. The Rams are now 1-3 in the Super Bowl.
#42-TOM BRADY: Look, he extended his many records and added a few more along the way ... most notably winning his record sixth Super Bowl.
#37-NFC EAST TOPS THEM ALL: The AFC East just won their 9th Super Bowl, passing the AFC North/Central for most by a division. The NFC East tops them all with 13 titles.
#27-BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: We've had 23 Super Bowls where a quarterback with Super Bowl experience faced off against a newbie. Brady's win makes the record 13-10 for the veteran.
#25-STICK WITH THE FAVORITES: The favorite is now 34-19 in the Super Bowl.
#23-THE NFC OWNS THE COIN TOSS: The Rams won the coin toss, making it 19 out of the last 22 where that conference won it. The winner of the coin toss is now 6-16 in the last 22 Super Bowls and 24-29 overall.
#22-KICKING IT UP, PICKING IT UP AND MAKING SURE YOU SCORE: There has been at least one successful field goal in 51 of 53 Super Bowls. Teams that have been shut out in at least one half (the Rams were shut out in the first half) are now 1-20 in the Super Bowl.
#21-AFC EAST VS NFC WEST: The AFC East is now 3-1 against the NFC West in Super Bowls.
#19-WEARING WHITE IS KEY: In one of my favorite Super Bowl stats that really is so coincidental is the fact that the team wearing white jerseys have now won 13 of the last 14 Super Bowls are are 35-18 overall.
#11-DON'T TRAIL BY DOUBLE DIGITS: Okay, the Patriots gained a double-digit lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game, but it still triggers this stat. Teams down by 10-points or more in a Super Bowl are now 4-45. It also means that at least one team has faced a double-digit deficit in 47 of 53 Super Bowls.
#2-AVENGING A LOSS: The Patriots join the Cowboys (Super Bowl VI) and Dolphins (Super Bowl VII) to win a Super Bowl the year after losing a Super Bowl.
#1-WHO IS GONNA WIN: I really need to stop picking these things.
