Super Disappointment

Hyped up Super Bowl LIII falls significantly short of expectations

Super+Disappointment

Jack Shields and Ben Brooks

The most hyped up sporting event of the year failed to live up to most expectations. Superbowl LIII continued the New England Patriots’ NFL dynasty with a 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams. With the victory, the Patriots earned their sixth super bowl title in 18 years, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowls titles ever.

Many fans feel that this years Super Bowl was one of the worst yet. Major complaints stem from having the lowest scoring super bowl ever, the disappointing Maroon 5 halftime show, and of course, the hated Patriots won yet again.

This years contest posted the lowest TV rating in over a decade, with under 100 million viewers. New Orleans, which typically maintains one of the highest ratings in the country, only had 26% of residents watch the Super Bowl, the lowest ever recorded. A big factor in this was the controversial pass interference non-call in the NFC Championship game two weeks prior. Rather than watch the game, many New Orleans fans took to the streets to protest officiating by having massive parties throughout the city.

Both teams entered Sunday’s game with carefully crafted defensive schemes designed to stop the opposing offenses. Both the Pats and the Rams featured top 4 scoring offenses of 2018, and both were held to season lows. The defensive battle left the “offensive genius” Rams coach Sean McVay flustered by the Pats strong secondary.

The Rams singleback offense that succeeded for most of season was finally thwarted by Bill Belichick’s well coached defense. The LA offense rarely strayed from their comfortable play-action and inside run offense and never threatened New England’s defense.

Though the Rams defense held Tom Brady’s offense to his lowest amount of points in a Super Bowl ever, their scoring drought was too significant to overcome. One of the few bright spots in either offense was Patriots’ receiver Julian Edelman, who accounted for 141 yards and took home the Super Bowl MVP.

The Patriots’ 6th Super Bowl was also the 6th for the legendary coach-quarterback duo of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. The two have already been hailed as the greatest of all time, and only continue to build their legacy to the dismay of most NFL fans.

Yet another disappointment was the halftime show by Maroon 5, Travis Scott, and Big Boi.

“I feel like the halftime show was also not very good. Travis Scott and Big Boi were a let down and didn’t do very well,” sophomore Christian Carroll said.

Maroon 5, who had already been criticized for accepting the gig amidst NFL civil rights controversies were further bashed for their shaky halftime performance.

Overall, no part of Super Bowl night was particularly exciting to fans outside of Massachusetts. The well coached affair resulted in what many call the worst Super Bowl ever, and the halftime show only added another point of criticism. This Super Bowl may be one to forget for NFL fans, but the Patriots win has already set the stage for another competitive season.