by Nick Morgan, Sports Editor
On Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles (16-3) took home the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the defending champions, The New England Patriots (15-4), 41-33 in Super Bowl LII. This Super Bowl completely rewrote the record books, as 17 NFL records were broken, including most combined total yards of offense (1,151), fewest amount of punts (1) and fewest sacks (1). Quarterback 40-year-old Tom Brady broke six records by himself, including most passing yards in Super Bowl history (505) and most Super Bowl appearances (8). Philadelphia’s last NFL championship was in 1960 over the Green Bay Packers, but this is the Eagles first Super Bowl victory in the franchise’s history.
The main story of this Super Bowl was that the Eagles were led by backup QB Nick Foles after MVP candidate Carson Wentz went down with an ACL tear this past December. Foles had an impressive stint with the Eagles in 2013 where he was selected to the Pro Bowl, but he was ultimately traded to the St. Louis Rams for QB Sam Bradford and a first-round draft pick. Foles eventually found his way back to the Eagles after three years away with the Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs. Even after many great performances by the fifth-year QB out of Arizona, there remained some questions on whether or not he would be able to handle the pressure of the big stage against the powerhouse New England Patriots. He would answer the call as he went 28-43 for 373 yards, three TDs and one INT in his MVP performance.
The Eagles took a 22-12 lead into halftime after a gutsy call to go for it on fourth-and-goal by the Eagle’s head coach, Doug Pederson, went about as perfect as it could have. The Eagle’s running back Corey Clement took a direct snap, pitched it to tight end Trey Burton and the former University of Florida QB hit an uncovered Foles in the end zone to put the Eagles up 10 at the break. After the Super Bowl last year saw the Atlanta Falcons go up 28-3 in the third quarter just to have the eventual game MVP Tom Brady lead his team to a comeback victory, history suggested that this game was far from over.
As expected, the Patriots came out swinging on their opening drive of the second half as Brady connected with TE Rob Gronkowski four times on an eight-play drive that ended with a 5-yard Brady to Gronkowski touchdown that cut the Eagles lead to just three points. The second half was a shootout that eventually led to Brady and the Patriots claiming the lead, 33-32 with 9:22 left to go in the fourth-quarter in an all-too-familiar scenario. The Eagles were not ready to lay down yet. Philly took almost seven minutes off the clock in a 75-yard drive that ended with a spectacular Foles to Zach Ertz touchdown catch with just over two minutes left on the clock. The Eagles missed the two-point conversion that would have put them up seven, but the score remained 38-33 and with the ball back in the NFL MVP’s hands.
The Patriots had the ball for only 12 seconds before eight-year defensive end Brandon Graham got to Brady to force a fumble on their own 30-yard line. The Patriots held the Eagles to only a field goal, making the score 41-33 with just over a minute to play. Eagles’ fans still held their breath as the five-time Super Bowl champ took the field for one last game-saving drive. The Patriots drove the ball to the 50-yard line and left seven seconds on the clock. Brady escaped early pressure from the rush and heaved a hail-mary into the end zone which ultimately fell to the ground as time expired, and the Eagles 58-year championship drought finally came to an end.
Photo via Wikicommons