The Patriots’ Super Bowl Victory Was Boring—Yet Inimitable
In a tedious championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, New England confirmed that the ingredients of its success can’t be replicated by the rest of the NFL.
During the buildup to Super Bowl 53, the football world was in a retrospective mood. The nature of the New England Patriots’ nearly two-decade run since the arrival of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in 2000 meant there were the basic totals to tally. With his ninth Super Bowl appearance, Brady eclipsed the number of times any other had made it to the championship game, and with another victory, he’d become the only quarterback to win six titles. But the Patriots’ players seemed also to sense—or invent—a pattern of doubt outside their locker “Bet Against Us.” Before the team jet left Foxborough for Atlanta, Brady led fans in , “We’re still here!”
