Tom Brady good enough when he had to be to set up the Super Bowl's only touchdown off a key drive.


Turns out, that's all they needed.

On a day that knocked two of the NFL's highest-flying scoring machines back into the 1970s or `50s, Brady mustered one good drive when it mattered.


New England won its record-tying sixth Super Bowl title. Brady became the first player to win six rings. All on the strength of one measly touchdown in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever.




Brady, who has won that award four times, was fine but nothing more until the drive that began with 9:49 remaining, with the game tied at 3 in the first Super Bowl to go three quarters without a touchdown.



Sony Michel took the handoff on the next play for a 2-yard score. Anyone who had only tuned in for that drive might have wondered what all the fuss and all the yawning was about.

For anyone outside of linebackers, defensive coordinators and people who bet the under (56 points), this was ugly.

Brady and the Patriots looked nothing like the team that averaged more than 27 points a game this season, that put up 37 points against the Chiefs in the AFC title game, that didn't allow a sack and barely allowed Brady to be touched in the two playoff games leading to the trip to Atlanta.

Brady finished 21 for 35 for 262 yards and an interception. He got sacked once but harassed a lot more by Rams defenders. The Rams would've gladly said `yes' if someone had told them they'd give up just 13 points to the league's biggest big-game quarterback.




In this one, Brady's very first pass after New England started the game with four straight runs that got them to the Rams 34 got tipped up by receiver Chris Hogan, who collided with Nickell Robey-Coleman, then picked off by Littleton.

After that, the Patriots moved the ball, but ended up with very little to show for it. They outgained Los Angeles 195-57 in the first half but had one Stephen Gostkowski field goal and another Gostkowski miss for a paltry 3-0 lead.

The Rams tied it late in the third quarter, and this became the first Super Bowl in the 53-year history to head into the last 15 minutes without a touchdown.
