After a roller coaster season for all 32 teams in the National Football League, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots faced off on February 4th for the greatest prize in all of professional sports, the Lombardi Trophy. Super Bowl LII was hosted in Minneapolis to crown this year’s champion. New England had their sights set on going back-to-back, while Philadelphia wanted its first Super Bowl in franchise history.

Lead by arguably the best head coach ever, Bill Belichick, the Patriots’ dynasty has been rolling for years. Tom Brady, now at age 40, the MVP of this season, and the oldest to ever win it, played just as well as he had his whole career. Widely regarded as the best to ever play football, Brady had been expected to win his sixth Super Bowl, which would have extended his record for most Super Bowls won by a quarterback. Along with his four Super Bowl MVPs, Brady has shown no signs of slowing down. Finishing the regular season with a 13-3 record, the Patriots were the favorite to become champions yet again, but in order to do so, they would have had to go through the NFC champions, the Eagles. Philadelphia dominated throughout the regular season, finishing with a 13-3 record as the number one seed in the NFC.
The Eagles’ dominant regular season success was lead primarily by their then MVP candidate, quarterback, Carson Wentz, who would go down with a torn ACL in week fourteen against the Los Angeles Rams, keeping him out of action for the rest of the season. While this was certainly a devastating blow, Philadelphia showed no signs of regression as backup QB, Nick Foles, played the best football of his career after taking over the starting role.

In their first matchup of the playoffs against the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia prevailed in a very close finish as a potentially game winning touchdown sailed through the hands of Falcons’ receiver, Julio Jones. The following week, Philadelphia trounced the Minnesota Vikings by 31 points, punching their ticket to the Super Bowl in a convincing fashion. The Patriots road to the Super Bowl was filled with two AFC South teams, the Tennessee Titans, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. After defeating the Titans soundly, by a score of 35-14, on came Jacksonville. The successful drives came towards the end of the game, with clutch catches by Patriot receivers including Danny Amendola, New England overcame in the end and advanced to the Super Bowl yet again.

Arguably the most hated team in the country due to their success in the last decade, most football fans wanted a new team to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. The biggest game of the year was highlighted by dominance on offense for both teams. The game had very few punts, as both teams moved up and down the field with ease. Philadelphia jumped out to an early 15-6 lead, with touchdowns by Alshon Jeffery and LeGarrette Blount. The Eagles’ first half performance was also highlighted by a gutsy trick play leading to a touchdown by Foles, which would give them a 10-point lead at the half.
As football fans know, no deficit is too large for Tom Brady to overcome. He and his offense rallied back and gained the lead at the score of 33-32. Key factors in the Patriots second half success were tight end, Rob Gronkowski, who hauled in two touchdowns, as well as Amendola and Hogan. However, Philadelphia was not done. A late touchdown by their tight end, Zach Ertz, gave them the 38-33 lead with just over two minutes to play. On the next Patriots possession, Brandon Graham, the Eagles’ star defensive end made the play of his life, stripping Brady of the ball, leading to Philly regaining possession. New England would get the ball back with about a minute to play, but the point deficit was too much to overcome at that point, bringing the Eagles their first Super Bowl win in franchise history.
In short, this year’s Super Bowl was an exciting game that will go down in history, and left football fans anxious for next season.