In the lowest-scoring game of all-time, in which the New England Patriots held the Los Angeles Rams' No. 2 offense to just three points and sealed their victory with a fourth-quarter interception inside the five-yard line, the Most Valuable Player honor was awarded to ... . Julian Edelman, to be exact.
If you feel like handing the MVP award to an offensive player -- a receiver who didn't score a TD, no less -- following a that featured just 16 points instead of, say, a defensive player feels wrong, then it will surprise you that not a single member of New England's defense earned an MVP vote following LIII.
What?!
and confirmed to NFL.com by an NFL spokesperson, Edelman was not a unanimous winner, but received most of the votes from a panel of 16 voters. Not a single vote was cast for a Pats defender.
Edelman's 10-catch, 141-yard performance on Sunday night was surely worthy of a bulk of the votes; unguardable in the slot, he picked up eight first downs, including one on New England's game-winning touchdown drive.
But how was no Patriots defensive player even considered? Among those worthy of at least a glance, if not a vote:
禄*Stephon Gilmore, CB*: Recorded a game-high three passes defensed, forced a fumble that rolled out of bounds and snagged the Super Bowl-sealing interception of Jared Goff. New England's best corner all year coming up big in the biggest game.
禄*Dont'a Hightower, LB*: Led all players with two sacks and three QB hits. Forced game-changing fumble in LI. Missed LII due to injury. Returned in LIII to wreak havoc in the front seven and force constant pressure on Goff.
禄*Jason McCourty, CB*: , his 19.2-yard recovery to force an incompletion on a sure-thing Goff-to-Brandin Cooks TD pass in the third quarter will go down as in history.
禄*Ryan Allen, P*: Why not? Pinned Los Angeles three times inside the seven-yard line.
Only 11 non-offensive players have won MVP in 53 years. The last one to do so was Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller in 50. A defensive back has not won the award since Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Dexter Jackson in XXXVII.
If a unit could be voted MVP, then New England's defense would have run away with the honor. If a coach could receive the award, perhaps defensive play-caller Brian Flores would have represented the team.
