Tuesday 29 January 2019 15:29, UK
The New England Patriots have made yet ANOTHER Super Bowl! (As if anyone ever doubted them).
New England face off against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII - a rematch of Tom Brady's first Super Bowl appearance, when he led the Patriots to a shock 20-17 victory.
The decades since have seen a dynasty created, and the Patriots are showing no signs of stopping - this will be their fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years.
But how does this season compare? Watch the video above to track some of their season highs and lows, while we run you through how New England made it to Atlanta below…
The Patriots reigned supreme over the AFC East once again, for the 10th consecutive season - the first team in NFL history to win their division 10 times in a row. Alongside that, they secured an eighth-straight Conference Championship appearance and, to top it all off, are off to Super Bowl LIII - their ninth in 17 years and fourth in their last five.
The Patriots did what they do best this season, pulling out Ws from tough games. In Week One they took down the Houston Texans, who came ever so close to pipping the Patriots to the No 2 seed in the AFC. Weeks Five, Six and Seven proved to be challenging too, as New England beat the Indianapolis Colts, the previously undefeated Kansas City Chiefs - edging a Week Six thriller 43-40 - and bested the Chicago Bears. Three wins from a horrid three-game stretch all against playoff teams.
Tom Brady will always be the figurehead of the Patriots offense, but it was rookie running back Sony Michel who proved to be one of the stars of the season. The 23-year-old out of Georgia rushed for 931 yards and six touchdowns during the regular season, despite missing three games through injury.
Alongside Michel, the Patriots added another excellent player to their offense - albeit this time on their offensive line. They traded a third-round draft pick to the San Francisco 49ers for left tackle Trent Brown. The 26-year-old only gave up three sacks of Brady all season and was instrumental in run-blocking, as the Patriots averaged 127.3 rushing yards per game - ranking fifth in the NFL.
Despite picking up crucial wins against the likes of the Bears and Chiefs, the Patriots suffered five defeats on the season - their most since the 2009 season. And they suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since 2015 when they lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions in Weeks Two and Three.
In three of New England's five defeats they only managed to score 10 points. Firstly during the game against the Lions, coached by former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. The second occasion came against another ex-Patriot, former linebacker Mike Vrabel, when his Tennessee Titans shockingly blew out the Patriots 34-10 in Week 10. The third was a tight encounter with the Pittsburgh Steelers that ended in a 17-10 loss - the Steelers and Titans were the only teams with winning records to beat New England.
However, the most memorable defeat of all came in Week 14 to the Miami Dolphins, as the 'Miami Miracle' was born. With the Patriots leading 33-28 and with only seven seconds left in the game, the Dolphins had the ball at their own 31-yard line. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw a pass over the middle that was caught by wide receiver Kenny Stills, who lateraled the ball to DeVante Parker over on the right side of the field. Parker then pitched the ball to running back Kenyan Drake, who ran in 52 yards for a touchdown to win the game in stunning style.
A road loss to Pittsburgh followed and, through 15 weeks, the Patriots were in real danger of not securing a first-round bye for the first time since that 2009 season. But New England turned things round with trademark wins over the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets while others stuttered around them. Division, No 2 seed and first-round bye secured for another year.
There's only one player in contention for this isn't there? Tom Brady. It's as simple as that. Brady posted the best stats for a 41-year-old quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 4,355 yards, 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions - alongside having a quarterback rating of 97.7.
For the first time since 2009, New England did not have a receiver go for over 1,000 receiving yards and the player with the most receptions was James White, a running back!
Obviously Brady missed his usual targets Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski at stages of the season. Edelman was suspended at the start of the season for four games due to a violation of the policy against performance-enhancing drugs and Gronkowski was limited by injury for most of the year. Also, Josh Gordon - who had an impact after a trade from the Cleveland Browns - was banned indefinitely by the NFL for a violation of its drugs policy late on in the season.
However, Brady spread the ball all over the field, as seven players had three or more receiving touchdowns. But White was certainly his 'get-out-of-jail-free' card - the 26-year-old had 87 receptions (second among running backs), for 751 yards (second among running backs) and seven receiving touchdowns (first among running backs).
White equalled Darren Sproles' playoff record for receptions in a single game with 15 when the Patriots took down the Los Angeles Chargers in the divisional Round. New England won 41-28, though that scoreline flatters L.A, with the Patriots up 35-3 by half-time!
Michel pounded the Chargers on the ground as he went for 129 yards and three touchdowns, while Brady linked up with Julian Edelman for 151 yards on his way to 343 passing yards (and a TD) total.
The Patriots advanced to the AFC Championship where they faced the hotshot offense led by sophomore quarterback sensation Patrick Mahomes. Brady and co were classed as 'underdogs' in a playoff game for the first time in a long while, but went on to dispatch the Chiefs 37-31 in an overtime thriller.
The majority of the action happened late on, as the two sides combined for 38 points in the fourth quarter - the most ever in an AFC Championship game. Then, Brady became the first quarterback to win three postseason overtime games as he led the Patriots downfield - completing multiple clutch third-down throws - before Rex Burkhead hammered his way in from two yards out for the game-winning score. On to another Super Bowl...
With their trip to Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII, New England will have appeared in 50 per cent of the last 18 Super Bowls to have taken place.
But, although they have made it to so many (winning five), the Patriots have never made it easy for themselves. They suffered surprise losses to the New York Giants in 2007 - when chasing an undefeated season - and again in 2011. Last year they went down 41-33 to the Philadelphia Eagles in a thrilling shootout.
But, in all five of their Super Bowl victories the Patriots have produced moments of sheer brilliance. In Super Bowl XXXVI the then St Louis Rams were heavy favourites thanks to their 'Greatest Show on Turf' offense, but Brady and Bill Belichick took them down 20-17. Two years later, Brady threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns as they squeezed past the Carolina Panthers 32-29.
They won it all again the following season against the Eagles, a narrow 24-21 victory, before having to wait a further 10 years to bring home their fourth Vince Lombardi Trophy as they beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 at Super Bowl XLIX thanks to a last-gasp goal-line interception by Malcolm Butler.
The Patriots are not only renowned for reaching Super Bowls, but entertaining when they get there. Let's hope this year is no different.
Watch Super Bowl LIII between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams live on Sky Sports USA (channel 407) from 10pm on Sunday, February 3.
Sky brings you all the build up from Super Bowl LIII through our websiteskysports.com/NFL also our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL
