Six crazy statistics that illustrate how ugly Super Bowl LIII was
After a season in which high-scoring offenses dominated the NFL, fans of defensive football finally got to see a game to their liking.
Unfortunately for nearly every other NFL fan, Super Bowl LIII was a super bore as the Patriots beat the Rams 13-3 after an “explosive” fourth quarter in which New England scored 10 points.
Woof.
These stats show how ugly things were in the lowest-scoring game in Super Bowl history:
1. The Chiefs scored 16 or more points in one quarter seven times during the season. The Chiefs played 36 halves of football this season and scored 16 or more points 23 times.
2. Things really looked bleak when the CBS announcers were showering superlatives on Rams punter Johnny Hekker. In the first half, Hekker had more “touches” (six) than running back Todd Gurley and wide receiver Brandin Cooks combined (five).
3. In addition to the one touchdown, the teams combined to run one play in the red zone. The previous low for a Super Bowl was five, ESPN said:
4. At one point, the under-over for the game dropped to 9.5 points:
5. ESPN also noted that 45 percent of the Rams plays went for zero or negative yards:
6. One more on betting stat, again from ESPN. The over-under before the game was 56, so Super Bowl LIII finished under the line by the largest margin of any NFL game in 30 seasons.
Here is a bonus look at the last two Super Bowls from Sports Illustrated’s Mitch Goldich:
This story was originally published February 4, 2019 at 9:27 AM.
