By Chandler Hutchison
February 4th, 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles won their first ever Super Bowl in a victory over the AFC’s New England Patriots by a final score of 41-33 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota.
Nick Foles, Philadelphia’s backup quarterback led the Eagles offense all night, posting 373 passing yards, while throwing three touchdowns, one tipped interception, and he even caught a receiving touchdown which capped off his Super Bowl MVP night.
Four- time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady had an impressive night himself with 505 passing yards and three touchdowns. Brady is the first player in NFL history to throw over 500 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions and lose in a game, which only emphasizes how well the Eagles played all night.
There were a few deciding plays in the game that changed the outcome heavily. The Eagles’ third string running back Corey Clement caught a pass from Foles on the back-left half of the end zone where it did not seem he controlled possession. Commentators Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were both baffled that the touchdown was granted.
Nevertheless, the Patriots persisted and kept the game interesting. The next controversial call came when Philadelphia tight end Zach Ertz extended the ball over the end zone plane and the ball popped loose on contact with the ground. It was reminiscent of Pittsburgh tight end’s Jesse James no catch that helped win the Patriots a late regular season game.
A big take away from the game was that it needs to be more clearly defined what a catch is, and NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell stressed that after the game. Even without the two questionable calls, the Eagles played a great game and must be given all the credit in the world.
An important story line that came out of the game is that Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler was benched from played any defensive snaps, and was only in on special teams. Malcolm Butler is arguably the second best defensive player on the Patriots since Donta Hightower is hurt, and his absence sent waves of anger through New England for a full week after the game.
Many different reports have come out about why Butler was benched, what he did, and why Belichick made the decision to bench him. There is still no clear answer, but Butler made clear that any report about him missing curfew, or having drugs found on him are insulting and false.
Butler’s absence was missed as the Eagles’ hung 41 points on the Patriots defense. The Super Bowl loss leaves the Patriots 5-4 in Super Bowls all time, 5-3 in the Brady era, and the Eagles at 1-1 in their Super Bowl appearances.
Both teams lost one of their coordinators to head coaching positions in other cities, but the nucleus of both teams remain, and they are both primed for another deep playoff run next year.
