The New England Patriots are known for their comebacks and their extreme ability to tackle the scoreboard as the time ticks down.
However, the Patriots ran out of time this time around, losing Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles, 41-33.
The Eagles are NFL champions for the first time in the Super Bowl era, denying Brady his sixth Super Bowl ring.
There was no doubt that each team came ready to play, as the Eagles pushed offensively and the Patriots made key plays in the end zone.
Patriots defense worked to keep their one-on-one defense tight, but faltered, giving the Eagles one particularly well-played touchdown. The surprise touchdown pass to quarterback
Nick Foles had Eagles fans screaming, showing the sheer risk Philadelphia coach, Doug Pederson, was willing to take against the Patriots.
The game was full of back and forth action, as the Patriots won the coin toss and chose to give the ball to the Eagles first, who worked quickly to gain yards and points to the scoreboard.
Touchdowns after touchdowns, each team climbed the ladder, the Patriots pushing to lead above the Eagles the entire game.
The Patriots quickly gained momentum, as the Eagles defense struggled to keep up with Tom Brady’s pace, finally gaining a lead of 33-32 in the fourth quarter of the game.
Gronkowski and Brady were a perfect duo, as they worked together to gain yards. Gronkowski eventually scored two touchdowns, Brady performing his magic when it was needed the most.
The Patriots worked to regain the lead with two minutes to go in the game, but Eagles’ defense crashed, hitting the ball from Brady’s hands before he had time to make the play.
Patriots fans looked on as the Patriots got their first turnover of the game. The stress increased for Patriots fans as the Eagles pushed further on offense.
The Patriots flew home as losers, despite putting up a Super Bowl-record 613 yards and despite Tom Brady playing one of the games of his life.
A head coach who was a backup NFL quarterback (Pederson) and an offensive coordinator who was a backup NFL quarterback (Reich) and a quarterback who was a backup NFL quarterback (Foles), beat Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
The Eagles knew the only chance they had at beating the Patriots was to call a top-secret play when it wouldn’t have mattered if the Patriots had 15 players on defense.
This is what it takes to stun the Patriots: a play they’d never seen run by the Eagles, with a passer who’d never thrown an NFL pass, and a receiver who’d never been thrown an NFL pass.
The Eagles had a three-point game, against the best team of the generation, and no doubt if the Patriots had more time, they would have overcome the Eagles score once again.
However, all respect goes towards the Eagles. They were able to beat a team that had made nine trips to the Super Bowl, and who have shown incredable skill and strength for years. Maybe this wasn’t the Patriot’s year, but they will be back.
Caroline Perry can be contacted at cperry@kscequinox.com
