On February 3, 2019, the Patriots took the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, for Super Bowl LIII, facing off against the Los Angeles Rams. With Brady on one side and Jared Goff on the other, the expectation was for the quarterbacks to go head-to-head. But what occured instead was a defensive battle.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel left his team’s 16-3 wild-card playoff victory over the Los Angeles Chargers with his face literally bloodied, but an unshaken confidence in his team.

The game pits the No. 4 seed Pittsburgh Steelers going up against the No. 5 seed Houston Texans at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh with kickoff at 8.15 p.m. ET, but there's more to the story.