Patriots Super Bowl Film Review: Defense Edition

My favorite kind of film to review is when the defense plays awesome and there are few plays, most of which are really good. Obviously, the performance by the Patriots defense in Super Bowl 53 certainly fits the bill.

Just look at this:

Let’s dive in as we take a look at the performance in an emotionless vacuum.

— The easiest first place to applaud is the performance of the interior guys — Brown, Guy, Wise and Shelton were all just more physical than the Rams offensive line. The victory started with how good they were out of the gate.

— Dont’a Hightower looked as good as he’s ever looked and was a pass rushing menace all game long. His first pressure forced a third down incompletion on the third drive. The Pats had good man coverage behind him, illustrating just how in sync this defense was.

— Woods’ longest catch of the game went for 18 yards on the fourth drive, the first real nice play for the Rams and was one of those that was just a great throw and a great catch. Thank Hoodie those weren’t happening in the fourth quarter.

— Trey Flowers‘ individual pass rush on third-and-10 near midfield was a big play to keep the Rams out of Patriots’ territory. Flowers lines up over the center often and is quick enough to get that vital interior pass rush. His placement is always perfect in small spaces.

— On the next third-and-two at midfield, the regular personnel package didn’t bite on the play action. The perfect coverage allowed enough time for the relentless rushes of Guy and Wise to flush Goff into Van Noy who chased him down. Great. Team. Defense.

— The Pats attacked near the end of the first half as the Rams got the ball back with a final chance to score. They sent five rushers and they overwhelmed the Rams offensive line, a recurring theme of the day.

— The force of Jonathan Jones in a full running sprint is what broke Patrick Chung‘s arm. Jones came from his center safety spot and delivered a big hit that Chung’s arm got in the middle of. Jones was used in the middle of the field as a robber mostly, only a couple did he actually drop deep like a real safety.

— Getting off the field after Chung injury on the first drive of the second half was huge. Gilmore had great coverage as the Pats went to Cover-1 Man with Harmon as the deep safety. Good pressure by Adrian Clayborn too.

— Not sure where this Danny Shelton was all year. He was quick and disruptive.

— An near safety by Hightower on a quick third down mid-way through the third quarter. Just as physical pass rush as we’ve seen from a defense since 2004. The Rams o-line had no answers. This was how the Giants d-line attacked Tom Brady in SB42.

— The Rams best drive of the day near the end of the third quarter included a nice third down coversion for 16 yards to Robert Woods. Again, Goff was nearly killed as he threw it and Woods needed magic tape to snag it. This was what it took to get a first down against the Patriots in this one.

— The drive was stopped cold by Hightower’s second sack that held the Rams to their only points of the game. Jason McCourty‘s deflection of the pass to a wide open Cooks was a game-saver. The defense was in Cover-3 and McCourty came all the way from the back side to make the play.

— Duron Harmon‘s pressure forced an offbalance throw by Goff that became the game-changing interception. The Rams put together another nice drive, getting to the Patriots’ 27 yard line with the Pats up seven and under five minutes left in the game. Again, a perfect example of the rush helping the coverage. Gilmore read it perfectly and made the easy catch.

— The Rams got the ball back down 13-3 and made a desperate comeback attempt with an early field goal try that went wide, securing the Pats’ win.

So many defenders had impactful games. Just about everyone made at least one play. They dominated up front and every catch they allowed was contested and almost immediately tackled. It was textbook defense from the 2018 Pats, and Super Bowl 53 will forever be a testament to a near-flawless performance.