In addition, the game was jam-packed with plays and coaches decisions that you were constantly sure would end up being the difference in the game. On their first drive, the Eagles had a second and goal from the two but had to settle for a field goal after a motion penalty, an ominous sign in a game where the winner would probably not be the one settling for field goals. Jake Elliott missed the extra point when the Eagles went up 9-3 and then Pederson chased it with a failed two point conversion try in the second quarter. When Philadelphia fell behind 33-32 midway through the fourth quarter, it looked like that decision might be costly.
The Patriots clanged a short field goal attempt off the left upright after a botched snap and hold and then Gostowski missed his own extra point when the Patriots had closed the gap to 15-12. When the Eagles drove for the go-ahead score to make it 38-33 with just over two minutes left, that missed field goal looked critical as the Patriots would now need a touchdown to win instead of a field goal.
Pederson decided to go for it on fourth and goal from the one with under a minute left in the first half, with a three point lead. Where others would have take the three points, he went with a reverse throwback to the quarterback out of the wildcat formation. If that play had gone awry and the Eagles lost by three or less, he would have been crucified. That play mimicked a similar third down play run earlier by the Patriots from that no-man's land where the field goal would be too long but the punt only gets you about 30 yards. That failed throwback to the quarterback just out of Brady's reach was the only play in the game where Brady looked like the middle-aged 40 year old man that he is playing a younger man's game.
Similarly, with about three minutes left and the Eagles down by a point, Pederson went for it on fourth and one from his own 47. I know neither defense had stopped anyone but there are plenty of coaches in this league who would have punted and then tried to get the ball back and also lost the game. Pederson didn't and the Eagles ran the pick play and competed a two yard pass for the first down. Belichick also had to make his own tough decision, opting to try the field goal that ended up being botched instead of going for it on fourth and one inside the Eagles 10 yard line, after a brilliant open field tackle by the Eagles defense on an attempted hurdle by Brandin Cooks. Cooks was subsequently knocked out of the game on a vicious blind-side tackle with some helmet-to-helmet contact by Malcom Jenkins. There was not flag on the play. But it was one less target for Brady for the rest of the game.
Any one of those decisions and plays looked like it might one that one team or the other would come back to rue or celebrate at the end of the game. Instead, the decisive moment was a defensive play in a game dominated by offense. Brandon Graham stripped Brady of the ball and Derek Barnett recovered, leaving the Eagles in field goal range and already up by 5 with just over two minutes left. This time Pederson played situational football. A first down would have won the game but Pederson ran the ball three times, made the Patriots use all their time outs, and then kicked the field goal to put the Eagles up by 8. When the Eagles purposefully kicked off just a little short and the Patriots tried the reverse on the runback, the Eagles were ready and Brady was forced to start from well inside his 20 with under a minute left and no timeouts. The Patriots were able to get a last-play hail-mary into the end-zone that got batted in the air for what seemed an eternity before falling to the ground and the Eagles were champions.
For the Eagles, the keys to the game were third down conversion and they were a remarkable 10 for 16 in third down conversions and, I believe, 8 for 11 at one point in the game. Foles was remarkable, poised and confident and really didn't make a bad throw all night. His one interception came on a long pass to Alshon Jeffery who nearly made a spectacular one-handed catch along the sideline but then batted the ball back into he field of play and the waiting arms of a Patriot defender as he tried to catch it. But that turnover was the equivalent of a long punt and only allowed the Pats to start from inside their 10 yard line. Foles had long TD passes to Jeffery and the highly effective Corey Clement and threaded the needle on a pass to Agholor after the fourth down conversion on the winning TD drive. Ertz's winning catch and dive into the end-zone would have been a crime to overturn on the NFL's ridiculous "going-to-the-ground" rule that is currently almost undecipherable. Clement's earlier TD also needed a review but the call on the field was not overturned.
As good as Foles was, and he was close to perfect, Brady was even better. And in the second half he started to go to Gronkowski, his favorite target, on a regular basis. Gronk was also superb, with nine catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Foles had a ridiculous 8.7 yards per attempt passing, yet Brady easily outdid that, averaging 10.5.
As expected, both defenses were torched, the Eagles because Brady is Brady, and the Patriots because they just weren't that good. And Pederson understood that the best defense against Brady is to make sure he doesn't have the ball. The Eagles led the time of possession by over 8 minutes. Neither team could mount an effective pass rush but there seemed to be very few blitzes either. But you knew that, if the Eagles had any defensive scheme up their sleeve, they had to use it when they were up by 5 with over two minutes to go. And sure enough, they moved Graham inside where he was able to evade the Patriots guard with his quickness and get the strip-sack, the only sack of the game for either team.
You have to feel bad for the Pats, and especially Brady and Gronkowski, who carried much of the load for the entire team, offense and defense, throughout the year. And you have to wonder whether the dream scenario should have been for Brady to pull this one out and ride off into the sunset. He insisted even before the game that he wanted to come back next year. But there are clearly problems within the organization. The benching of Malcolm Butler for the most important game of the year was curious to say the least. Matt Patricia will take over head coaching at the Lions but the Pats defense was nothing to rave about this year anyway. The trade of future QB Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers, where he turned them into what looks like playoff contenders with his play at the end of the season, was apparently done against Belichick's wishes. And Gronkowski, who just takes a beating every single year, refused to commit about returning for next year, instead saying he needed time to think about the future. So the Patriots clearly have some internal issues, which is something new for this team and does not bode well for the future.
In addition, the NFL also has issues. Besides the ridiculous rule on what is a catch, there has been a decrease in viewers this year. Beyond the players protests and the ridiculous politicization of that issue by Trump, the blackballing of Colin Kapernick speaks to some real concerns about the management of some of the NFL teams, and we're not even talking about the Browns. More importantly, the issue of CTE and the all too frequent sight of players like Brandin Cooks lying motionless on the field are a growing and deep concern for an increasing sector of America. Youth participation in contact football is suffering. And, on a recent Jeopardy! episode, there was a category on the NFL and the three contestants, two of whom were men, did not even attempt to answer a single question. That would probably have been unthinkable a decade ago. The NFL is still extraordinarily popular but the issues around injuries and permanent brain damage is now not only unavoidable, despite the NFL's best efforts, but also existential because of the nature of the sport itself.
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