Tom Brady became the only player in history to win six Super Bowls as the Patriots defeated the Rams 13-3 to claim their third title in five years.They say defence wins championships, and those words could not be more true in this Super Bowl, which saw only one touchdown in the entire game.

In the Year of Offense, the NFL’s championship game didn’t have much. A dreary Super Bowl that featured a combined 13 punts.

As he has so many times, Rob Gronkowski was there when Tom Brady needed him most, picking up a pair of huge first downs on what proved to be the decisive drive in the Patriots’ victory.

It was a year defined by offensive brilliance and a ton of points, but at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the game turned into a defensive slug-fest defined largely by the punters.

Neither team had reached the red zone until midway through the fourth quarter, but Brady, looking to get something going, twice exploited a coverage mismatch on Gronkowski, completing passes of 18 and 29 yards to his big tight-end. That set up Sony Michel’s 2-yard touchdown run to put the Patriots into the lead they would never relinquish.

‘We played together as a team, we won this game as a team’, Gronkowski said in an on-field interview. ‘This whole year was the biggest team Super Bowl I’ve ever been a part of in my life.’

Coach Sean McVay’s highlights-reel offense was forced to punt on its first eight possessions of the game — and 9 times overall — and was limited to just 205 total yards.

Brady finished on 262 yards, while Goff, who reached the Super Bowl in his third season, struggled the entire game and finished with 229 yards.

Julian Edelman was the star of the show. He collected 10 catches for 141 yards and was named the game’s MVP, completing his comeback from a devastating knee injury last year by winning his third career Super Bowl.

‘I’m pretty ecstatic,’ Edelman said after the game.

In what would prove to be a crushing blow to the Rams, the Patriots were able to follow up Gronkowski’s touchdown with a turnover, as Jared Goff was intercepted by Stephon Gilmore late in the fourth quarter, allowing New England to slow the game down and walk away with a victory.

For Brady the win gave him a sixth Super Bowl ring, breaking a tie with the Hall of Fame defensive end Charles Haley for the most by an individual player, and it tied the Patriots with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most by any team.

Photo: NFL.com