‘Fly, Eagles, fly, on the road to victory, fight fight fight’

EAGLES TOUCHDOWN BY ZACH ERTZ— The game-winning touchdown was scored by Zach Ertz with less than three minutes to go in the game. (Tom Dutton)

The football season has come to a close and these last few weeks have seen some of the best postseason football of the last ten years. Every year, hundreds of millions of people turn their channels to the NFL’s championship game, the Super Bowl. This year ended with a match-up that rivaled the greatness of last year’s amazing comeback by the Patriots.

The football season culminated in a offensive showcase at the Super Bowl, with the Philadelphia Eagles beating the New England Patriots 41-33. This was the Eagles’ first championship since 1960, and their first of the Super Bowl era. The game ended with the most total offense in Super Bowl history, with 1,151 accumulated by both teams.

The Patriots were the favored team to win when the postseason began, with a relatively weak AFC conference and another strong team around future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. They were, however, just short of winning the Lombardi trophy. The Patriots offense had a tremendous showing, with Brady and company putting up 500 yards passing and 113 yards on the ground, making for 613 yards of total offense. However, a late game sack and fumble forced by Brandon Graham gave the Eagles the final push towards victory.

The Eagles were a true underdog story, led by MVP caliber play from quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz led the team to a number one overall seed in the NFC. However, Wentz was sidelined with a season-ending knee injury  in week 14. This led to the ascension of quarterback Nick Foles, who had struggled to be a starting quarterback over the last two years. This made the Eagles underdogs in every single playoff game. Nick Foles played nothing short of amazing football during the NFC championship and the Super Bowl. In the NFC championship against the Minnesota Vikings, Foles absolutely decimated an elite defensive secondary, throwing for 353 yards. He then went into the Super Bowl and threw for 373 yards and caught one touchdown on a trick play. With both defenses struggling to stop both quarterbacks, it came down to one play. Brandon Graham became the first and only guy to sack the quarterback  and cause a turnover in the final moments of the game, halting the Pats offense and leaving them little time to conduct a final, unsuccessful drive at the end of the game.

Consensus: watching this game was super entertaining, with both teams putting on stellar performances. In the end, it came down to one or two good plays by the Eagles and one or two bad plays by the Patriots. The Eagles’ trick play touchdown and the turnover at the end of the game made a huge difference, while a botched field goal and a rare turnover by Tom Brady secured the victory for the Eagles. Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles on a fantastic season and their first Super Bowl victory!