Yes, the New England Patriots added to their legacy with a 13-3 win over my Los Angeles Rams last night. A championship is a championship, but in the eyes of the American Public, absolutely no one outside of Boston walked away a winner.
The 32-year-old receiver caught 10 passes for 141 yards, and had one carry for eight yards. His 149 all purpose yards were more than twice as many as the Rams had rushing (62), and more than half of Tom Brady’s 262 passing yards. Of course neither quarterback threw a touchdown. Jared Goff stunk in the first half, and the Patriots’ offense couldn’t do anything against the Rams’ defense in the first half, short of a few underneath passes to Edelman and Rob Gronkowski.
Such was the tone for the night. Not one play in the game went for over 30 yards, and the Patriots had for 20+ yard plays. The Rams had only one, a 24-yard completion from Goff to Robert Brooks.
The 10-point margin of victory was the first time any of New England’s six Super Bowl titles was by more than a touchdown. It does put a dark cloud over that number that Goff couldn’t keep the Rams’s offense on the field, and Brady could not get the Patriots into scoring depth when he came off the field.
Edelman’s 10 catches give him 115 for his career in the postseason, and the 141 yards put him at 1,412. In 11 years and 18 playoff games, he ranks only behind Jerry Rice in receptions (151) and yards (2,245). He will assuredly never catch Rice in either category. However, the talk of sportwriters that his postseason career has done enough to put him into Canton is even more laughable than the game itself.
Edelman has 499 career receptions, only 30 touchdowns, and missed all of 2017 with an injury.
Then there was also that thing about him being suspended the first four games of the 2018 season, after copping to being busted for PED’s in July. It puts the same level of doubt over the game as when Brady was in the discussion for 2016 MVP, after being suspended four games over “Deflategate.”
This is not bitter Rams fan wanting a pound of flesh over New England winning yet another championship. Edelman went to nearby Kent State in college, where just like Josh Cribbs, Edelman went from quarterback to receiver after turning professional.
With as soft as the Rams’ secondary was playing, based on how aggressive their front seven were in the first half, Edelman could have thrown to Brady 10 or more times. Then again, Brady showed last year he may only have caught about two or three of them.
Edelman was the logical choice, as the only other player on either sideline that contributed anything else meaningful was Rams’ punter Johnny Hekker.
Edelman’s last five seasons have been very impressive, but he’ll need a few more before we start distancing him from the Terrell Davis comparisons where the Hall of Fame is concerned. Davis’ first four years were some of the best the league had ever seen, until injuries ground his career to a halt. Edelman was definitely a late bloomer in his argument.
At least when Edelman returns to eventually have his jersey retired at Kent State, he only has about a 40-minute drive to the Hall of Fame, where he can likely get discounted admission at the door.
-JC24