Super Bowl 53: Takeaways and lasting impressions

Bill Belichick is the greatest coach of all time.

Brady and Belichick have both been so instrumental in each of their six championships together during this magical Patriots run. One could argue that if Brady’s masterpiece performances came in the wins against Seattle and Atlanta (and honestly, the loss against Philadelphia should count as well), then Sunday’s win over Los Angeles was Belichick’s magnum opus.

The Patriots had faced electric offenses in the Super Bowl before and prevailed, but every time it was by the skin of their teeth. They outmuscled Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk’s “Greatest Show on Turf” in 2002, but they needed a field goal as time expired to do it; they outscored Kyle Shanahan’s Falcons in 2017, but they needed a miraculous comeback and then overtime to do that.

This time around, New England didn’t need much from offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Tom Brady, or even Sony Michel and the Patriots’ punishing playoff run game. Really all they needed was a brilliant defensive game-plan that could stymie Sean McVay and his arsenal of offensive weaponry: C.J. Anderson, Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, and Jared Goff above all others.

And that’s exactly what Belichick drew up: a perfect plan that was perfectly executed by Brian Flores and the entire Patriots defense. Of the 12 Los Angeles drives in Super Bowl 53, one ended in a successful field goal, one ended in a missed field goal, one ended in an interception, and a whopping nine ended in punts.

You read that correctly – Belichick’s defense forced McVay’s offense to punt 75% of the time, and with a championship on the line, no less.

It was the crowning achievement in a career that now stands unparalleled in NFL history. No other head coach has won as often, as consistently over time, or as impressively as Bill Belichick.