Eagles are Super Bowl Champs

By Francis Abbamonte
Staff Writer

Last Sunday, Super Bowl LII took place where the Philadelphia Eagles faced the defending champion New England Patriots.

The Eagles faced Tom Brady, who won his third MVP and is the oldest recipient to get the award at the age of 40.

Backup quarterback Nick Foles took the reins for the Eagles after starting quarterback Carson Wentz tore his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in Week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams.

Throughout the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, they were viewed as the underdogs as they looked to knock off Brady and the Patriots.

This was Brady’s eighth Super Bowl appearance. He came into Super Bowl LII with a 5-2 record in Super Bowls.

The last time these two teams met on the biggest stage in football was in Super Bowl XXXIX. But the day finally came again where the Eagles hoped to win their first Super Bowl Championship in franchise history.

Philadelphia started off with the ball and began to roll as they converted on three consecutive first downs, which led to a 25-yard field goal attempt by rookie kicker Jake Elliott.

New England’s offense followed a similar tone and drove down the field, but the Patriots had to settle for a field goal as well.

Both teams scored on their first drives. The game was tied 3-3.

The Eagles didn’t waste time scoring again when Foles connected on a deep ball to wide receiver Alshon Jeffery. The Eagles led 9-3 early in the first quarter after Elliott missed the extra point.

New England looked to counter, but was stopped on third down. Patriot placekicker Stephen Gostkowski missed his field goal attempt due to a low snap to holder Josh Allen.

The Patriots tried to convert on a fourth down, but they didn’t pick it up.

This would lead to a powerful run by ex-Patriot running back LeGarrette Blount extending the Eagles’ lead to 15-3 after a failed two-point conversion attempt.

New England closed the gap after a field goal and a touchdown run by running back James White to make the score 15-12.

Just as it looked like the Pats would gain momentum, the Eagles played some trickery where Eagle tight end Trey Burton threw a touchdown pass to quarterback Foles for a big fourth down conversion.

The Eagles led 22-12 at halftime.

New England came into the second half hot with Brady connecting with his favorite target, tight end Rob Gronkowski, for a touchdown to cut the lead to 22-19 early in the third quarter.

The Eagles marched down the field where Foles delivered another long touchdown pass to running back Corey Clement to increase their lead to 28-19.

Super Bowl LII continued to live up to the hype as both teams tried to pull away.

New England is used to playing from behind in a game and stayed poised as Brady connected with wide receiver Chris Hogan to again keep the game close at 29-26.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Eagles held a tenuous 32-26 lead, but not for long.

Brady has been in this position many times before. As long as there is time left on the clock, Brady will give his team a chance to win.

The Patriots’ offense had a flawless drive that they capped off with Gronkowski scoring his second touchdown of the game. New England now had their first lead of the game, 33-32.

With the game on the line, the Eagles converted a first down with tight end Zach Ertz making a huge catch to keep Philadelphia’s hopes alive.

Some could debate that the Super Bowl wouldn’t be as exciting without some intense drama. Ertz broke free and dove into the end zone for the touchdown.

But the scoring play was under review due to the ball popping out after he crossed the plane of the goal line.

After reviewing the play, the referees declared it a touchdown, and Philadelphia regained the lead 38-33.

Brady got the ball back with 2:21 left in the fourth quarter. But when the Eagles needed a big defensive play, they got it. Defensive end Brandon Graham sacked Brady and stripped him of the football.

The Philadelphia defense recovered the fumble, and that led to another field goal. The score was now 41-33 Eagles. New England would get the ball back again with 53 seconds remaining. League MVP Tom Brady had one last shot.

On the last play, Brady threw a desperate Hail Mary to try to tie the game… but he couldn’t connect with one of his receivers in the end zone for a potential game-typing touchdown (along with the two-point conversion) as time expired.

The Philadelphia Eagles became the 2018 Super Bowl Champions and won their first title in franchise history.

Against all odds, it was evident that the Eagles fought until the very end.

Email Frankie at:
fabbamonte@live.esu.edu

Email Frankie at:
fabbamonte@live.esu.edu