New England Patriots returned to the Patriots after missing the 2017 season with injury The Patriots finished the 2018 season with an 11–5 record to earn the #2 seed in the AFC and their 17th season with at least ten wins in their 19 years under 66-year-old head coach
Bill Belichick. They went on to join the
Miami Dolphins and
Buffalo Bills as the only teams in NFL history to ever reach three consecutive Super Bowls, they were later joined by the
Kansas City Chiefs. Though the team had only two
Pro Bowl selections, they scored 436 points (fourth in the league) while giving up only 325 (seventh fewest). These totals made him just the second quarterback in NFL history to amass 70,000 career passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. His top receiver from the previous season,
Brandin Cooks, was traded to the eventual Super Bowl rival Rams, but
Julian Edelman, who not only had
missed the previous season with a
torn ACL injury but was suspended for the first four games of the regular season after testing positive for PEDs, returned to catch 74 receptions for a team-leading 850 yards and six touchdowns, while also returning 20 punts for 154 yards. Other key receivers included
Chris Hogan (35 receptions for 553 yards and three touchdowns) and
Josh Gordon (40 receptions for 720 yards and three touchdowns), though Gordon would end up leaving the team to focus on his mental health after 11 games when faced with a suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Tight end
Rob Gronkowski added 47 receptions for 682 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, the running game featured a dynamic new weapon, rookie halfback
Sony Michel, who lead the team with 931 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns, along with veteran
James White who racked up 1,176 yards from scrimmage while leading the team in receptions (87) and total touchdowns (12). On special teams, receiver
Cordarrelle Patterson returned 23 kickoffs for 663 yards and a touchdown, an average of 28.8 yards per return (third in the NFL), while also catching 21 passes for 247 yards, rushing for 228 yards and scoring four touchdowns on offense. The Patriots secondary also featured twin brothers
Jason McCourty and
Devin McCourty, who both had an interception each. Devin had 82 tackles, while Jason had 70.
Los Angeles Rams was the youngest head coach to reach the Super Bowl The Rams finished the 2018 season earning the #2 seed in the NFC, before knocking off the fourth seeded
Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round and top seeded
New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship to earn their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history. The Rams went from
2004 to
2016 without recording a winning record. After relocating from St. Louis back to Los Angeles and posting a dismal 4–12 season in
2016, the team's fortunes changed with the hiring of 30-year-old head coach
Sean McVay, the youngest head coach in NFL history. Under McVay and second year quarterback
Jared Goff, who recovered from a lackluster winless rookie season to record a triple digit passer rating, the Rams improved to an 11–5 record in
2017. Then in 2018, they won their first eight games and finished the year with a 13–3 record, tying the
Saints for the best record in the NFC. New Orleans won the top seed since they had defeated the Rams in the regular season. The Rams offense ranked second in the NFL in both points scored (527) and yards gained (6,738). Goff continued to improve in his third season, setting new career highs in passing yards (4,688, fourth in the NFL), passing touchdowns (32), passer rating (101.1), rushing yards (108) and rushing touchdowns (two). His top receiver was
Robert Woods, who caught 86 passes for 1,219 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Brandin Cooks, an off-season pickup from the Patriots via trade, also made a big impact with 80 receptions for 1,204 yards and 5 scores. The team's #3 receiver,
Cooper Kupp, suffered a season ending injury after catching 40 passes for 566 yards in 8 games, forcing Goff to rely heavily on other targets like
Gerald Everett (32 receptions) and
Josh Reynolds (29). Pro Bowl running back
Todd Gurley was the team's leading rusher with 1,251 yards (fourth in the NFL) and 17 touchdowns, while also catching 59 passes for 580 yards and five more touchdowns. His 17 rushing touchdowns led the league, while his 22 total touchdowns gave him 132 points, fifth in the NFL. Running back
C. J. Anderson, who made the Rams his third different team in 2018 after signing up with them in December, also was a key aspect of the running game, finishing the season with 405 yards and leading the team in rushing in both of their playoff victories. On special teams,
JoJo Natson returned 26 punts for 280 yards, while kicker
Greg Zuerlein made 87.1% of his field goals, including a franchise postseason record 57-yard kick to defeat the Saints in overtime in the NFC championship game. The Rams defense featured Pro Bowl defensive tackle
Aaron Donald, who led the league in sacks with 20.5, as many sacks as the rest of the team combined. He also had 59 tackles (25 for loss), four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Veteran defensive lineman
Ndamukong Suh was second on the team with 4.5 sacks, while also getting 59 tackles and recovering two fumbles. Pro Bowl linebacker
Cory Littleton led the team in total tackles with 125, while also picking up four sacks, three interceptions and blocking two punts. The Rams also had a strong secondary, led by
John Johnson (119 tackles and four interceptions),
Marcus Peters (three interceptions),
Lamarcus Joyner (78 tackles) and
Aqib Talib.
Playoffs In the playoffs, the Patriots earned a first-round bye as the AFC's second overall seed. In the divisional round, they defeated the
Los Angeles Chargers 41–28, scoring touchdowns on five of their first six possessions. Brady passed for 343 yards and a touchdown, while running back
Sony Michel rushed for 129 yards and three touchdowns. They then defeated the
Kansas City Chiefs 37–31 in the
AFC Championship Game, scoring the game-winning touchdown in overtime. The Patriots held a 14–0 lead at halftime, before the Chiefs rallied to take the lead 21–17 in the fourth quarter. From there, both teams took turns taking the lead, until the Chiefs forced overtime with a 39-yard field goal by
Harrison Butker to tie the game 31–31. The Patriots won the coin toss to start their offense for overtime, where
Rex Burkhead scored a two-yard touchdown to win the game. Michel ended up rushing for a combined total of 242 yards and five touchdowns in the Patriots' two playoff games, setting an NFL record for postseason rushing touchdowns by a rookie. The Patriots defense held Chiefs wide receiver
Tyreek Hill and tight end
Travis Kelce, who had both gained over 1,300 receiving yards during the season, to a combined total of just four receptions for 65 yards. Meanwhile, the Rams also had a first-round bye as the NFC's second overall seed. They started off the divisional round by defeating the
Dallas Cowboys 30–22. The Rams gained 273 yards on the ground with running backs
Todd Gurley and
C. J. Anderson rushing for over 100 yards each. They then defeated the
New Orleans Saints 26–23 in the
NFC Championship Game, scoring a game-winning field goal in overtime. The Saints jumped out to an early 13–0 first quarter lead, before the Rams rallied to close the lead to 13–10 at halftime. In the fourth quarter,
Greg Zuerlein tied the game at 20–20, with just over 5 minutes remaining. The Saints moved the ball to the Rams' 13 yard line, but could not gain a first down. On third down, quarterback
Drew Brees threw a pass to receiver
Tommylee Lewis, who was covered by
Nickell Robey-Coleman. Though Robey-Coleman knocked Lewis to the ground early and the pass fell incomplete, the obvious penalty was not called and the Saints'
Wil Lutz kicked a 31-yard field goal to take the lead. The Rams took possession and sent the game to overtime with a 48-yard field goal by
Greg Zuerlein. Although the Rams lost the coin toss and had to start their defense for overtime, Brees threw an interception on the Saints' first drive and Zuerlein kicked a 57-yard field goal to win the game.
Pre-game notes The two franchises previously met in 2001's
Super Bowl XXXVI; the Rams at the time were based in
St. Louis. However, only one player, Patriots starting quarterback
Tom Brady, remained on either roster from that contest.
Bill Belichick, the Patriots' head coach in the previous contest, also remained in that position for this game. Super Bowl LIII featured record setting age differences between each team's starting quarterbacks and head coaches, pitting 41-year-old Brady against 24-year-old
Jared Goff, as well as 66-year-old Belichick against 33-year-old
Sean McVay. The then-St. Louis Rams won their only prior Super Bowl title in Atlanta,
Super Bowl XXXIV, hosted at the now-demolished
Georgia Dome in 2000, which was located adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. As the
designated home team in the annual rotation between AFC and NFC teams, the Rams elected to wear their royal blue and yellow throwback uniforms for the game, which they have previously worn for six home games including a home playoff game during the 2018 season. The Patriots wore their standard white away uniforms. Gambling establishments had the Patriots as 2 ½ point favorites and projected 56 total points would be scored. Boston and Los Angeles teams of other professional sports have met in the championship rounds, popularizing the
"Beat L.A." chant and the hashtag "#BeatLA". This was the thirteenth meeting between teams from Boston and Los Angeles for a
major professional sports championship, the most meetings between any two cities in North American sports. The
Boston Celtics and
Los Angeles Lakers have contested a
record eleven NBA Finals since the Lakers moved from Minneapolis in 1960. Furthermore, Los Angeles Galaxy and New England Revolution have contested three
MLS Cups. The
Boston Red Sox and
Los Angeles Dodgers faced off in the
2018 World Series, and with the Patriots and Rams meeting in Super Bowl LIII, it was only the second time in 50 years that two cities' MLB and NFL teams have competed for the league title in the same season (or calendar year), the first time being in 1969 when the
New York Jets and
Baltimore Colts competed for
Super Bowl III in January 1969 followed by the
1969 World Series featuring the
New York Mets and
Baltimore Orioles. The Patriots faced another Los Angeles-based team in the same playoffs, the Chargers in the divisional round, en route to their Super Bowl meeting with the Rams. ==Broadcasting==