Super Bowl 53 has yet to live up to the expectations of the majority. The over/under betting line for the matchup between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams was 56 in most sportsbooks, but only the Patriots have put up points on the scoreboard as of this writing – and it was off a field goal by Stephen Gostkowski in the second quarter.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, what happened in the first quarter of the game was a rare one in terms of offensive output.
This is the 9th Super Bowl that was scoreless in the 1st quarter. The Patriots have been involved in 5 of them (they won the previous 4).
As stated above, this statistical notoriety seems to favor New England, which has had more success in their previous Super Bowl appearances when neither teams go kaput on offense in the opening period.
Both the Rams and the Patriots have considerably stout defenses. Nevertheless, few could have predicted that both teams would lay eggs early in the game. The Patriots have a talented cast of offensive players with Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, and rookie Sony Michel, while the Rams have Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and Brandin Cooks.
In any case, the second half of this matchup is going to be interesting to say the least.
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