Super LII puts a stamp on the 2017 season. The Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl and 4th championship overall by beating Darth Vader and the New England Patriots 41-33. Let’s take a look at this crazy game that set the record for most yards ever. Super glad the Lions are adding the Patriots defensive coordinator after that one.
First Half
The Eagles moved the ball right down the field on the opening drive. The Patriots bent but didn’t break at the seven yard line. Rookie kicker Jake Elliot nailed the 25 yard field goal for the 3-0 lead. The Patriots responded with a 67 yard drive of their own. Jalen Mills broke up a pass for Rob Gronkowski on 3rd and 4 from the 8 yard line. Stephen Gostkowski tied the game at three with a 26 yard field goal.
The Eagles responded in 3 plays. Blount rumbled for 36 yards after a 7 yard pass to Nelson Agholor. Foles went deep and hit Alshon Jeffrey for the 34 yard bomb. Elliot missed the extra point and the Eagles led 9-3. The Patriots moved the ball 74 yards in response but that Jim Schwartz defense bent but didn’t break again. McLeod made a great tackle on a screen to Cooks and the Patriots had to settle for a field goal. The snap was bad and Gostkowski shanked the easy 26 yard attempt. The Eagles led 9-3.
The Eagles followed with a 3 and out in a rare punt on the day. The Patriots would move to the Eagles 35 yard line but miss deep to Gronkowski on 4th down at the Eagles 35 yard line. The Eagles made them pay driving 65 yard led by Nick Foles. Foles hit Ertz and Jeffrey for two big first downs. Former Patriot, LeGarette Blount ran for the 21 yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a big lead. The two point conversion failed and Philadelphia led 15-3.
The Patriots and Tom Brady continued to move the ball with ease until Eagles territory. Brady missed a 3rd and 8 to James White and the Patriots had to settle for another field goal. Gostkowski nailed the 45 yarder to cut the lead to nine at 15-6.
The Eagles offense looked unstoppable as Foles found Torrey Smith and Ajayi rumbled for 26 yards. Foles went deep to Jeffrey to the red zone but the ball ricocheted in the air and Duron Harmon got a big interception to kill the Eagles drive. The Patriots started at their own 10 yard line and avoided points.
Tom Brady continued to carve the Eagles with a 43 yarder to Chris Hogan after a penalty exteneded the drive earlier. James White ran for the 26 yard score to cut the lead to 15-12.
Philadelphia continued to respond time after time. They drove 70 yards set up by a 55 yard pass to Corey Clement from Foles. The Patriots appeared to get a stop but the Eagles went for it on 4th down. The Eagles used a play I’ve seen Jim Bob Cooter run in Week 17 and a quick snap to the RB, reverse to Tight end and throw to Nick Foles got the Eagles a huge touchdown. Philadelphia led 22-12. The Patriots had a chance but didn’t have enough timeouts and the clock ran out at mid field. The Eagles led by 10 at half time.
Second Half
The Patriots made their adjustments and came out firing on offense. Brady started to finally find Gronkowksi for 25 yards and 24 yards. Finally, Brady nailed Gronk for a five yard TD and the Eagles’ lead to three again.
Philadelphia and Foles were unfazed. Foles hit Agholor and Ertz for big first downs and Blount ran for another. Finally, Corey Clement made an amazing catch on a deep ball for the 22 yard TD. The Eagles were back up by 10.
Brady was just mad now and marched the Patriots down the field again. A defensive hold started the drive for the Patriots giving them a first down. Brady found Hogan for 16 yards and Amendola for 18 yards. Finally, Brady connected with Hogan again for the 26 yard TD. The lead was cut to three again in this back and forth game.
The Eagles moved to the Patriots 16 but the Matt Patricia red zone D made another stop. The Eagles finally settled for only a field goal as Jake Elliot nailed the 42 yarder for the 32-26 lead. Tom Brady was on a mission and passed for over 400 yards on the day. The Patriots had another 75 yard drive with Gronk getting his second TD pass to cap it off. Gostkowski nailed the extra point and the Patriots finally took the lead at 33-32.
Nick Foles wasn’t done though as the best backup in the league. Foles found Ertz for a first down on 3rd down and again on a huge 4th down on a gutsy call by Doug Pederson to go for it with 5:39 remaining. Aghohor caught two more first downs and finally Ertz nabbed an 11 yard TD on 3rd and 7 from the Patriots 11. The two pointer failed but the Eagles regained the lead at 38-33.
It seemed to be Tom Brady time. Brandon Graham and Jim Schwartz had other ideas. Graham moved inside and beat guard Shaq Mason causing a Brady fumble. Rookie Derek Barnett (who the Eagles got for Sam Bradford from the Vikings) recovered the fumble in US Bank Stadium. The Eagles were in full control. The Patriots forced a 3 and out with good time out and use but Jake Elliot nailed a huge 46 yard field goal with the pressure on him. The Eagles led 41-33 and the Patriots had one more chance.
A terrible call to reverse on the kickoff pinned the Patriots deep in their own territory. Brady converted a 4th down to Amendola and spiked the ball with 26 seconds. Brady found Gronk again who just barely got out of bounds. Brady missed short to Dorsett and Ron Darby almost picked it off. Finally, Brady somehow avoided a sack and was able to get off the Hail Mary. The Hail Mary bounced in the air and New England had a chance but the ball fell harmlessly to the ground. The Evil Empire was defeated and Philadelphia fans were happier than when Rocky beat Drago.
The Eagles are now World champions and the entire NFC East has now won a Super Bowl. Nick Foles won the MVP with 3 TDS and a 106 rating day. Foles has as many Super Bowl MVPS as Aaron Rodgers. Brady had an amazing 505 yards passing and a 115.4 rating. He won this 3rd league MVP the day before. It wasn’t enough as the Eagles big fumble, the Gostkowski missed field goals and setting for field goals early cost the Patriots and Bill Belichick/Brady their 6th Super Bowl title. Congrats to the Eagles but we all know the Eagles were lucky the refs screwed the Lions out of the playoffs. The Lions dynasty starts now as t he Lions win the next 10 Super Bowls. Book it.