This Patriots-Rams Super Bowl has inevitably led to talk about the last Patriots-Rams Super Bowl, in 2002, which is considered one of the greatest upsets in NFL history. It was the Patriots’ first Super Bowl win, and it marked the beginning of three consistent Pats storylines of the past 18 years: Bill Belichick is a genius, Tom Brady is clutch, and the Patriots cheat.
The cheating allegation: that the Patriots taped the Rams’ walkthrough the day before the game. The Boston Herald reported this a few years later, in the wake of Spygate, and later retracted it. The allegation has never been proven.