Super Bowl Recap

The Panther’s 2019 Super Bowl Preview stated that a lot would happen in this year’s Super Bowl. Unfortunately, that statement would not end up proving true, as Super Bowl 53 ended up being the lowest scoring Super Bowl in NFL history, with the Patriots managing a win against the Rams with a score of 13-3. The halftime show also disappointed fans for several reasons from a very limited Spongebob cameo to Adam Levine losing his clothing throughout Maroon 5’s performance. Overall, Super Bowl 53 was one of the worst Super Bowls in recent years.

The game featured two of the top four scoring offenses in the league, which led fans to think that it would be a high-scoring game. However, it turned into a low scoring standoff with only one touchdown scored during the entire game. The Rams averaged 32.9 points per game in the regular season, second in the NFL, while the Patriots averaged 27.3 points per game, fourth in the NFL. Many expected to see a great game from the Rams star running back Todd Gurley, but Gurley barely managed to put up 35 yards on 10 attempts. Backup running back CJ Anderson did not do much to help either, putting up 22 yards on seven attempts. The Rams running game played a key role  for the Rams in the regular season, but it ended up leading to their demise in the Super Bowl.

Rams quarterback Jared Goff also had an uncharacteristically poor game, completing only 19 of his 38 pass attempts for 229 yards. Goff threw no touchdowns, one interception and was sacked four times. This was only the second time this year the Rams were held without a touchdown.

The Patriots offense was not  much better, only scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Tom Brady has a decent game, completing 21 of his 35 passes for 262 yards. However, Brady threw no touchdowns and one interception, although the interception came after a defender knocked the ball out of his receivers hands. This was the first time that Brady did not throw a touchdown in his six Super Bowl appearances.

Although the Patriots did not have as strong of an offensive showing as expected, it was far better than the Rams. Patriots running back Sony Michel rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown. Michel racked up more rushing yards than the entire Rams offense. Julian Edelman was named Super Bowl MVP after catching 10 passes for 141 yards.

The game itself was far from the only problem, with the halftime show underwhelming several fans watching the game. Maroon 5 agreed to be the main act of the halftime show despite fans wanting them to protest against the NFL to support Colin Kaepernick. Maroon 5 decided to omit any political stances from their show, which further angered some fans.

Before the game, Yahoo! Sports reported that Maroon 5 would incorporate “Sweet Victory” from Spongebob into their halftime show. Spongebob fans formed a petition after the passing of Spongebob creator Stephen Hillenburg to get the NFL to perform the song during this year’s halftime show. Spongebob would end up making an appearance in his marching band outfit, but it only lasted a few seconds, with the song transitioning into Travis Scott’s hit song Sicko Mode. Spongebob did not make another appearance after this, and Sweet Victory was not performed. Fans were extremely angered by this and expressed outrage that Sweet Victory was not performed.

“We wanted a tribute to Stephen Hillenburg,” sophomore Zachary Rogers said. “Instead, they played Sicko Mode.”

Fans also questioned why Adam Levine started the show normally clothed, but ended up shirtless by the finale. Throughout the show, Levine progressively removed layers of his upper body clothing. Eventually, during the performance of the song Moves Like Jagger, Levine removed his tank top and went fully shirtless. Some fans compared this to the infamous Super Bowl 38 halftime show where Justin Timberlake accidentally exposed Janet Jackson’s right breast. People began questioning why Levine was allowed to remove his shirt while Jackson was heavily criticized for her wardrobe malfunction.

While the Super Bowl is one of the largest televised events in the country every year, this year’s big game was underwhelming, to say the least. Patriots fans are happy about their sixth championship in 18 years. The rest of the country, on the other hand, just wishes it would have been a better game to watch.