Bill Belichick Reveals Why Josh McDaniels Did an 'Outstanding Job' in Super Bowl
February 4, 2019
Bill Belichick praised offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels after the New England Patriots' 13-3 win in Super Bowl LIII on Sunday night, noting that he made several key second-half adjustments in the victory.
"Josh McDaniels did an outstanding job of play-calling and eventually finding things that worked and made some big drives for us," he said, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk.
Belichick also specified the adjustments that helped the Patriots score 10 fourth-quarter points:
"McDaniels made a great adjustment. We talked about that on the sideline. We went to a two-tight-end offense, but we spread them out. We were able to complete some passes to Julian [Edelman] and then to Rob [Gronkowski] at the goal line to score [on the next play]. It was really well executed. It was not something we had anticipated doing a lot in this game. We did it against Kansas City, but it was kind of right time, right situation. We had good protection to be able to make those throws. Tom [Brady] did a good job getting the ball to the open guy. That was a great throw he made to Gronkowski to get down to the 2-yard line."
Most of Sunday's game was a defensive struggle, and the game went into the fourth quarter tied at three apiece. But Brady and the Patriots were excellent in the fourth quarter.
On the team's touchdown drive, Brady completed all four of his pass attempts for 67 yards and found Rob Gronkowski twice, including a beautiful 29-yard pass to get the Patriots down to the Rams' 2-yard line.
And after Jared Goff threw an interception deep in Patriots territory on the next drive with just over four minutes remaining, Brady and the Patriots had the chance to all but put the game away. Starting from their own 4-yard line, they put together a nine-play drive that lasted three minutes and five seconds and resulted in a field goal that iced the Rams.
On that drive, the Patriots only needed to run the ball to move down the field. When they needed a drive to put the Rams away, the Patriots were able to turn to the ground attack, reeling off 67 yards behind Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead.
For most of the game, Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips had McDaniels and Brady's number. But with the game in the balance, McDaniels made the necessary adjustments to earn another ring for the Patriots.