Kyle Van Noy earned a second Super Bowl ring, thanks to a tremendous defensive effort.
The former BYU linebacker and the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sunday night, the third straight title game appearance for the Patriots and their second Super Bowl win in that span.
New England won its sixth Super Bowl title in the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era.
It was defense, though, that dominated Super Bowl LIII. Van Noy, who started at linebacker, had four tackles in the game and a second-quarter sack that ended a Los Angeles drive that had reached Patriots territory.
With the Rams facing a third-and-2 at the New England 47, the Patriots defense held strong on the play for several seconds. Rams quarterback Jared Goff eventually rolled right out of the pocket, only to have Van Noy catch him for a 14-yard loss on the play, forcing Los Angeles to punt the ball back to New England.
Though he wasn’t credited for a sack on a play in the third quarter, Van Noy teamed up with fellow linebacker Dont'a Hightower for a stop after Los Angeles had reached the New England 26 yard line. Hightower had a 9-yard sack on the third-and-7 play, which forced the Rams to kick a 53-yard field goal that tied the game at 3-3 late in the third.
New England had four sacks in the game while holding the normally potent Rams to 260 yards of total offense.
Van Noy added three quarterback hurries, including two in the fourth quarter, and among his tackles he stopped Rams running back Todd Gurley for no gain on a second-and-5 play on the first drive of the second half.
It was the second straight Super Bowl that Van Noy started and his second title-game sack — he had a half-sack in Super Bowl LI in a 34-28 win over Atlanta.
Van Noy ended the Patriots’ Super Bowl run with 18 tackles, three sacks, three quarterback hurries, a pass deflection and a forced fumble this postseason.
On the opposite sideline, former Utah State wide receiver JoJo Natson played in his first Super Bowl for the Rams. The diminutive returner had two punt returns for 12 yards and a kickoff return for 27 yards, including a 13-yard punt return in the second quarter.
Former Utah cornerback Eric Rowe also earned his second Super Bowl title with the Patriots. Rowe has been on injured reserve with New England since the end of October with a groin injury.