Column: Super Bowl 2019: Dazed and confused, Goff shows his age in Atlanta
Reporting from atlanta — Tom Brady thrust his hands into the air. Jared Goff banged his hands against his helmet.
Brady swaggered off the field in the arms of his teammates. Goff remained stuck on the bench, frozen under his pads.
Brady was legendary. Goff was lost.
In the final frazzled minutes of Super Bowl LIII Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Brady threw the New England Patriots into the lead. A few desperate breaths later, Goff threw the Rams’ season away.
And thus, the Rams’ dream ended in a red-and-blue confetti nightmare, the Patriots claiming a 13-3 victory to win their record-tying sixth Super Bowl championship while the Rams are still searching for their first representing Los Angeles.
This is the second time in five months that Boston has beaten Los Angeles for a championship, following the Dodgers’ World Series to the Red Sox. The “Beat L.A.†chants that filled the stadium Sunday are getting old.
“This one is going to stick with you, it stings in your gut,’’ Rams coach Sean McVay said. “I’m kind of numb right now.’’
It’s numbing how the Patriots have won three Super Bowl titles in the last five years, and how Brady’s six Super Bowl rings are more than any other player in NFL history.
“It’s incredible,’’ Brady said.
For most of three quarters Sunday, the entire Rams offense seemed overwhelmed by the history, overcome by the hostile environment and stifled by the Patriot defense.
With every move, they were booed by a pro-Patriots crowd that filled roughly three-quarters of the 70,000-seat stadium. With seemingly every play, they were chased down by a smart Patriots defense that appeared to know what was coming.
They were a mess but still … after tying the score, 3-3, late in the third quarter, they had a chance.
But then Brady, 41, the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, showed why he is the greatest quarterback ever.
Goff, 24, attempting to be the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, acted every bit his age.
“It was tough,’’ Goff said. “It kills. It kills. It hurts me so much.’’
With 9 minutes 49 seconds left in regulation and the score still tied, 3-3, the Patriots began a drive at their 31-yard with their fans chanting, “Brady, Brady, Brady.’’
What happened next was Brady, Brady, Brady.
The Patriots quarterback lofted a perfect pass to Rob Gronkowski, then a couple of short passes to Julian Edelman, then a perfect deep ball to a double-covered Gronkowski at the Rams’ 2-yard line.
From there, Sony Michel ran for a touchdown to give the Patriots what became a 10-3 lead, giving the ball back to Goff with seven minutes left.
“We grinded it out,’’ Brady said. “We were just chipping away.’’
Now it was the Rams turn to do the same, and working from his own 25-yard line, Goff quickly moved the Rams to the Patriots’ 27.
But from there, facing a surging blitz from Duron Harmon, Goff threw wildly to Brandin Cooks in front of the end zone. The ball was badly underthrown and Stephon Gilmore intercepted it for the Patriots to essentially end the game.
Said Goff: “That’s my fault, man. I can’t put us in that situation.’’
Throughout the game, Goff put them in those kinds of situations. He completed just half of his 38 passes for 229 yards while missing on a handful of open looks and making several poor decisions.
“It’s the toughest loss I’ve ever had,’’ Goff said. “It’s terrible. I wish I could have had a million plays back.’’
One of the worst was late in the third quarter when Cooks slipped through the Patriots secondary and found himself wide open in the end zone.
At first, Goff didn’t see him. By the time he did, Jason McCourty was able to race over and break up the pass for the Patriots.
“I was kind of surprised that he was that wide open, and I tried to get it to him as quickly as I could,’’ Goff said. “Unfortunately, it was too late.’’
In the end, as probably should have been expected, Brady was The Man; Goff The Kid.
“I think the biggest thing is that the play selection didn’t really give him much of a chance,’’ McVay said, defending his protégé. “I think it starts with me.’’
McVay was right. Some of it, maybe a lot of it, did start with him.
In trying to become the youngest winning coach in Super Bowl history, McVay, 33, was completely outsmarted by oldest winning coach, 66-year-old Bill Belichick.
Goff wasn’t the only Ram who was dazed and confused. Todd Gurley, the great Rams running back who claimed he was healthy, spent long stretches on the bench for no apparent reason. The Rams committed nine penalties, three times as many as the more disciplined Patriots. In all, the Rams were outgained 407 yards to 260 and consistently seemed like the more unsettled.
“No other way to say it but, I got outcoached tonight,’’ McVay said.
This seemed particularly obvious in his use of Gurley, the highest paid running back in the NFL and arguably the league’s best running back over the past four seasons.
Gurley carried the ball on the Rams’ first offensive play but barely saw action after that, finally reappearing in the second half and finishing the game with only 10 carries for 35 yards and just one catch. This came two weeks after he had only five touches in the Rams’ NFC championship win over the New Orleans Saints.
Gurley suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss the final two games of the regular season, but he ran well in the first playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys. This week, he said he was healthy and his name didn’t appear on the injury report.
So what gives?
Said Gurley: “Whenever my name is called to get in, I’m ready. I just kind of control what I can control and just do my best with my opportunities.’’
Said McVay: “Todd is healthy, and we just didn’t really get a chance to get anybody going today offensively and that starts with me.’’
This issue will linger into the offseason, when perhaps more will be revealed about Gurley’s injury, or maybe McVay will study the tape and realize he needs to be more structured in his play-calling. The offseason should be a time for growth for other young Rams, particularly Goff, who will only learn from this lousy experience.
The offseason will also be a learning experience for this columnist, who picked the Rams to win big in this game and who will never, ever again underestimate the enduring power of the Belichick-Brady era.
Meantime, Los Angeles’ last Super Bowl champion is still the Raiders from 35 years ago, which Raider fans will be happy to remind everyone.
As for the Rams fans, well, before Sunday’s game, in the stands, one of their few shouted, “Whose House?’’
A couple of folks answered, “Rams House!’’
A New England fan shouted back, “That’s your chant? That’s the dumbest chant I’ve ever heard!’’
Just like Sean McVay, Jared Goff and the rest of those wonderful noisemakers who were drowned out by Patriots history, it was a chant that later went silent.
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