There are certain Super Bowl moments that you remember exactly where you were: David Tyree's helmet catch, Wide Right, A Yard Short. Does anyone even want to remember where they were for Super Bowl 53?
The Patriots beat the Rams in Super Bowl 53 by the super exhilirating scoreline of 13-3, and it was exactly as exciting as that final would suggest. There was a punter highlight, a major drop, and a whole lot of yuck. And yeah, at the end of it all, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won. Again.
"You know, not very many good (memories)," Rams quarterback Jared Goff said on Dec. 9, 2020, per NFL.com.
The stats might hurt your eyes, but here are a few examples: There were two interceptions thrown, but no touchdowns thrown. The Patriots were 3-of-12 on third down, and the Rams 3-of-13. The game's final over/under betting total was 55.5 points, and it finished with 16.
Before the Patriots and Rams play in 2020 Week 14, their first meeting since Super Bowl 53, we've taken a look back to sum up just what made that Super Bowl so weird, unusual and boring.
The best play was a punt
Johnny Hekker is a great punter, possibly the best the NFL has ever seen. But no one signed up for Super Bowl 53 to watch him punt, let alone steal the show.
Hekker set up with his heels just barely in the field of play of his own end zone during the third quarter. He unleashed a booming kick down the left sideline that wasn't caught, and it just kept right on rolling. It ended up traveling 65 yards, the longest punt in Super Bowl history.
That would've made for a fun footnote, but not a fun headline.
MORE: The legend of Johnny Hekker
The most memorable plays were drops
With the Rams trailing 3-0 late in the third quarter, Jared Goff ran a play-action pass from the New England 29-yard line. He lofted a pass down the seam toward the back of the end zone, where Brandin Cooks was waiting, wide open. But Cooks took a big hit and couldn't hold on.
Then with four minutes left and the Rams trailing by seven, Cooks couldn't hang onto a pass at the 1-yard line before Goff was picked off. Here's the second drop, which could have been called pass interference:
The competition committee said this play should have been interference and the #Rams would have gotten the ball on the 1-yard line. I pointed this out that night (some of you were irritated). It was subtle but by the letter of the law... pic.twitter.com/TdJi2YBnzw
— Michael Giardi (@MikeGiardi) March 27, 2019
The most talked about moment was Adam Levine taking his shirt off
The Super Bowl 53 halftime show featured Adam Levine, Travis Scott and Big Boi. After a 3-0 first half, fans were looking for any sort of fun.
Everyone expected Levine to take his shirt off and reveal a chiseled, tatooed chest. But Twitter still wasn't too happy when he did it. There's also a general pasttime among some folks of hating on Maroon 5, so it was quite the experience all around.
At least, unlike the football game, the halftime show got people talking.
And the Patriots really won again?
Patriots fans, please ignore this section.
If we were going to get a boring Super Bowl that missed going over by 40 points and featured an exhilirating punt and excrutiating drops... couldn't any of the other 31 teams in football have won? Brady and New England have done enough winning. They didn't need this win.
So just to add insult to injury to all non-New England fans, the winner of the most boring Super Bowl in recent memory was the team everyone loves to hate. Yuck.