Julian Edelman once again proved to be a pest for a defense.
The Patriots wide receiver finished with 10 catches, on 12 targets, for 141 yards and was the game MVP in the Patriots' 13-3 victory over the Rams in Super Bowl LIII on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The 5-foot-9, 190 pounder had seven catches and 96 yards in the AFC Championship game win over the Chiefs. He also had catches for 151 yards in the divisional playoff win over the Chargers.
Edelman accounted for most of the Patriots’ first-half offense. The wide receiver had seven catches, on eight targets, for 93 yards through two quarters. He accounted for 58 percent of the passing offense (160 yards) and 48 percent of the total offense (195 yards). He had nine catches and 128 yards through three quarters.
Super Bowl record
In this Super Bowl, of course there was record for longest punt.
The Rams’ Johnny Hekker, on his eighth consecutive punt, kicked one that went 65 yards. It topped the previous mark of 64 yards by Patriots punter Ryan Allen in Super Bowl XLIX.
Bad start
Tom Brady’s first pass of Super Bowl LIII was intercepted. After the Patriots started the game with four consecutive runs, that netted 27 yards, Brady had a pass intended for Chris Hogan tipped and picked off by Rams linebacker Cory Littleton. It ended the drive at the Rams’ 27-yard line.
Injured
The Patriots lost defensive back Patrick Chung to a right arm injury early in the third quarter. He left for the locker room with an air cast on the injured arm. He was ruled out for the remainder of the game. He later returned to the sideline to cheer on teammates.
Chung was injured on a tackle of Rams running back Todd Gurley.
Attendance
The NFL announced an attendance of 70,081 for the game. The total figure accounts for several sections used for auxiliary media seating.
Coin toss
Atlanta icons and civil-rights leaders the Rev. Bernice King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., congressman John Lewis and ambassador Andrew Young took part in the opening coin toss. King did the honors of tossing the coin, which landed on tails in favor of the Rams. They deferred the kickoff to the second half.
Gladys goes under and over
The long notes put her over. Maybe.
The over/under for Gladys Knight’s rendition of the national anthem was set at 1 minutes, 50 seconds. Knight’s rendition was timed at 1 minute, 49 seconds after the end of the first “brave.” After a pause and a second “brave” the rendition was timed at 1 minute, 53 seconds.
Some controversy ensued.
Some bookmakers declared the under, others the over.
The Super Bowl is the most heavily bet event of the year. One of the more popular prop best is the time of the national anthem.
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