Reviewing The Biggest Game Of The Year And More

The New England Patriots prevailed 13-3 on Sunday over the Los Angeles Rams in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl of the 53 played.

Wide receiver Julian Edelman, who missed last year’s Super Bowl with a knee injury and the first four games of this season on a suspension for violating the NFL’s policy against performance-enhancing substances, caught 10 passes for 141 yards to earn MVP honors.

The absence of scoring (one lone touchdown) left many griping that this was the worst Super Bowl ever (it wasn’t – go back and look up Super Bowl V) – but the victory tied the Patriots with the Pittsburgh Steelers for most Super Bowl titles with six and quarterback Tom Brady became the only player to win six Super Bowl games. Brady was 21 of 35 passing for 262 yards.

“It probably won’t sink in for a very, very long time,” Brady said.

Bill Belichick, 66, became the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl.

The Rams never got anything going offensively and finished with 260 total yards. They punted on their first eight possessions and nine times overall.

College Basketball:
No. 12 Virginia Tech defeated No. 23 North Carolina State 47-24 on Saturday. N.C. State shot 16.7 percent from the field and had more turnovers (10) than field goals (9).

No. 1 Tennessee drubbed Texas A&M 93-76. No. 5 Michigan fell 74-59 to Iowa on Friday night for its second consecutive loss. Indiana then handed No. 6 Michigan State a 79-75 loss in overtime. The new AP poll drops on Monday.

NBA:
The Toronto Raptors won at home for the 10th time in 11 games on Sunday, defeating the Los Angeles Clipper 121-103.

LeBron James returned from a groin injury on Thursday night for the Los Angeles Lakers but then sat out Saturday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors rolled to a 115-101 win.

The Houston Rockets topped the Utah Jazz 125-98 behind James Harden’s 43 points.

Elsewhere:
Rickie Fowler survived a triple-bogey 7 on the 11th hole and won the Waste Management Phoenix Open by two strokes over Branden Grace.

In the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets scored a franchise-record six goals in the first period on the way to a 9-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman