Sunday, February 04, 2018

Eagles Fly In Super Bowl

Who woulda thunk that the Philadelphia Eagles could take down the dynastic New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII in an offensive battle. But take down they did, as the Eagles, leading through most of the game, made the plays they needed to when it mattered most.


QB Nick Foles was named the MVP with a stellar offensive performance. Of all the great plays by both teams, I counted two by the Eagles that were key to their winning the game.

The first was an Eagles offensive trick play that went for a touchdown pass to Foles on fourth and goal. It was good indication that the Eagles were gonna be aggressive all game. Another key play, a sort of strip sack fumble of QB Tom Brady that the Eagles defense recovered, was a late game changer that put doubts into the heads of Brady and the New England Patriots. It was the only sack of the game.

It was a great game to watch. The referees let the players play and both teams gave it their all. The coaching was simply superb, putting their players in position time after time to make the plays they're capable of making.

As usual the Patriots went into half-time down, made adjustments and came out in the third quarter to score 14 easy points to the Eagles 7. Past Super Bowl opponents of the Patriots would crumble under the fourth quarter pressure, unable to finish against a dynasty. But the Eagles seemed to thrive on the pressure, especially after New England took a one point lead with 9:22 left in the game.

That's when Foles really showed the poise and confidence of a SB MVP, matriculating the ball down field. 14 play and 75 yards later a Foles touchdown pass gave the Eagles back the lead and they wouldn't relinquish it. Give Brady credit, he came close to connecting on a hail mary pass to his clutch TE Rob Gronkowski as time expired. But as many past Super Bowl victims know, close doesn't count.

Congratulations Philadelphia Eagles - Super Bowl Champions
MVP Nick Foles holding up the SBLII Lombardi Trophy

Eagles 41
Patriots 33

A sports listing of 5 reasons the Eagles won the Super Bowl, by Grey Papke, was what I thought an on the spot analysis of Philadelphia's success.

1) Nick Foles was astonishingly good

2) Doug Pederson called a near-perfect game
3) The running game kept New England honest
4) The defense let Philadelphia build up a margin — and came through when it mattered
5) The offensive line made everything happen

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