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Gutsy call by the Eagles 0n 4th down and goal with 34 seconds remaining in the half. 22-12 halftime.

It's always amazing to see players make plays that they are not trained for, i.e. non-QB's successfully passing the ball, or most recently a QB catch a ball, let alone a TD catch.

But as indicated in the last two Super Bowl's played by the Patriots, no lead is safe against the Patriots.

29-26 Eagles still leading. Brady shredding the Eagles defence. Got all day to throw.

Very good game.

Wow.  TD.  38-33.  So many close calls.  Splitting hairs.

Can the Patriots respond?  2:21 left.  Oohh ... Fumble. 

Full measure to the Eagles.  But Brady probably would have taken them down the field otherwise.  FG attempt. 41-33.  1:05 left.  Dangerous return.  Good pressure.  Wow.

Excellent coaching.  Game planning.  Adjustments.  Coaches with play sheets and headsets.  Full modern day packages.  No playing it safe. Go for it attitudes all the way. Very impressive.

The Eagles pull it off in the end with a forced fumble, a successful FG, and preventing a hail mary.
Congrats Eagles in pulling off the upset and winning their first Super Bowl.

A nice result and a decent game from pillar to post. Nice Half-time show too. Makes me kind of cringe when I think of our half time extravaganza in comparison. Not that the Super Bowl is always wonderful but it looks like it has some real $$ behind it.

With his performance, Nick Foles will definitely be the Eagles starting QB next season and Carson Wentz might be released or traded if he's not willing to be relegated to a backup. As for now though, I wonder how Wentz feels like winning a Super Bowl without playing in the game nor in the playoffs either.

Back in Super Bowl XLVIII two offensive Denver Broncos players established two positive individual records - most completions by Peyton Manning (34, since broken) and most receptions (13 by Demaryius Thomas) yet their team lost big time 43-8.

If I heard correct, Tom Brady also made a positive individual Super Bowl record with most passing yards (505 yards, breaking his own record of 466 yards from last Super Bowl) with no interceptions and 3 TD passes, but in a losing cause.

All right Eagles. An afternoon well spent.

Honestly, I think you can say that the Eagles game planned extremely well and executed. The D wasn't as solid as either team would like until it really mattered but in a close game like this, sometimes it does come down to a single play or call.

There were 4 that I can think of where the game could have turned for better or worse.

1. the 4th down gamble by the Eagles
2. the ruling of a TD for the Eagles on the review play in the 3rd Q. I thought it was good but it could have gone the other way.
3. the ruling of a TD for the Eagles on the review play on the 4th Q. Honestly, don't even know what the question was there. Guy catches the ball, takes 3 steps, gets contact, leaps for the endzone. Soon as he crossed the plane should be it right?. Sounds like a tootsie pop riddle. How many steps after the catch does a receiver have to make before he is a runner?
4. the non call on the 2 point convert attempt by the eagles in the 4th Q. I called PI immediately on that one but it went un flagged. If the Pats hadn't fumbled subsequently, that could well have been death for the Eagles.

As it turned out, I think the right call was made in 3 of the 4. Had those plays been called the other way, we are looking at a different outcome I believe. Both teams played pretty purrfect games and in the end, the one major mistake by the Pats, cost them.

Sir Purrcival wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 04, 2018 7:29 pm

A nice result and a decent game from pillar to post. Nice Half-time show too. Makes me kind of cringe when I think of our half time extravaganza in comparison. Not that the Super Bowl is always wonderful but it looks like it has some real $$ behind it.

I thought it was a great game, but disagree on half time show. Yes it was an over the top production with a lot of money put behind it, but it was boring. I cannot name one song by Justin Timberlake and what he did play did not impress me. Also the duet with the Prince hologram seemed contrived and using Prince to win over fans.

I thought the CFL halftime show was way better and Shania Twain has better songs than Timberlake. I for one rather listen to good music than see an over the top production that tries to enhance average music.

Happy to see the Eagles pull this one out. Tired of seeing the Patriots win so much. Nice to see someone new win. Still think though, the Grey Cup is a better trophy than a trophy that is a football. The Stanley & Grey Cups are the best looking trophies in football.

JohnnyMusso wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:44 pm

Sir Purrcival wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 04, 2018 7:29 pm

A nice result and a decent game from pillar to post. Nice Half-time show too. Makes me kind of cringe when I think of our half time extravaganza in comparison. Not that the Super Bowl is always wonderful but it looks like it has some real $$ behind it.

I thought it was a great game, but disagree on half time show. Yes it was an over the top production with a lot of money put behind it, but it was boring. I cannot name one song by Justin Timberlake and what he did play did not impress me. Also the duet with the Prince hologram seemed contrived and using Prince to win over fans.

I thought the CFL halftime show was way better and Shania Twain has better songs than Timberlake. I for one rather listen to good music than see an over the top production that tries to enhance average music.

I agree when it comes to halftime shows. The lack of $$ (at least in comparison) invested in the Grey Cup halftime show to the Super Bowl means the emphasis is on the performer, their ability and the music.

Take that Super Bowl halftime $$$ to buy lipstick for slathering on a pig still leaves you with a pig.

The Black Eyed Peas and Katy Perry halftimes were bizarre to say the least. Actually bizarre is the best thing you could say about them. In terms of entertainment, they were abysmal. On the other hand, Prince’s halftime was pure entertainment because he simply played his best, no distractions with oversized marching dolphins or musicians suspended from the ceiling.

I am just glad they abandoned using a Prince hologram. That would have been the ultimate in tacky and gone completely against what Prince thought of bringing artists back from the dead via technology.

I guess Trump will now completely deny ever knowing Brady. Devin Nunes is writing a memo at this moment confirming whatever Trumpie tweets tomorrow morning over his egg McMuffin.

Robbie wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 04, 2018 7:33 pm

With his performance, Nick Foles will definitely be the Eagles starting QB next season and Carson Wentz might be released or traded if he's not willing to be relegated to a backup.

Oh, I don't think so, Robbie. Wentz is the franchise QB and has a far higher upside than Foles, despite Foles's great play today and in the playoffs. Remember that before his injury, Wentz was being considered as a legitimate MVP candidate. There's just no way, in my opinion, that Wentz won't be the starter once he's completely healed from his ACL surgery. To me, the question now is what will be Nick Foles's future. One possibility is that he stays in Philly as the backup to Wentz. That would give the Eagles terrific depth at QB--a luxury enjoyed by very few NFL teams. Another possibility is that he is picked up by another team as either their starter or backup. I wouldn't be surprised to see him land in Kansas City, rejoining Andy Reid there and mentoring Patrick Mahomes.

For what it's worth, here's a relevant post-game comment from Doug Pederson:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... g-the-way/

It was a great game today. Hard to imagine that Tom Brady put up 505 yards passing and the Patriots still lost. The Patriots' secondary was badly torched, and the reason behind the benching of starting CB Malcolm Butler remains one of the mysteries of this game. In addition, the Eagles had a considerably better ground game. You have to feel good for Nick Foles. Evidently, he had considered dropping out of football altogether a couple of years ago after some poor seasons. He made the right decision to continue his career, and I think things are looking up for him going forward.

Sir Purrcival wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 04, 2018 8:52 pm

There were 4 that I can think of where the game could have turned for better or worse.

1. the 4th down gamble by the Eagles

Just for clarification, are you referring to the 4th down gamble late in the second quarter that resulted in a Eagles touchdown, or are you referring to the Eagles penultimate possession that continued the drive and ultimately resulted in the game winning TD. If it was the latter, then yes it was smarter to take the gamble instead of punting as if that happened, in all likelihood Brady and his offence could have put game away by taking all the time off the clock.

Speaking of punts, the Eagles punted just once while the Patriots never did. I wonder if that's a first in a Super Bowl.

CardiacKid wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 04, 2018 10:51 pm

I guess Trump will now completely deny ever knowing Brady.

I wonder how many Eagles will decline Trump's invitation to the White House.

South Pender wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:40 pm

Oh, I don't think so, Robbie. Wentz is the franchise QB and has a far higher upside than Foles, despite Foles's great play today and in the playoffs. Remember that before his injury, Wentz was being considered as a legitimate MVP candidate. There's just no way, in my opinion, that Wentz won't be the starter once he's completely healed from his ACL surgery.

I guess I was just thinking precedence examples, e.g. Jeff Hostetler replacing Phil Simms, etc. I don't know what the salaries are but would assume Wentz has a higher salary than that of Foles. But one thing I didn't realize is that Wentz is actually almost four years younger than Foles. I guess the general impression is that a QB backup would be younger than an older, experience veteran but not in this case. I guess Eagles management has a very important decision to make to whether to resign him to a long term contract, and Foles will probably test the market.

JohnnyMusso wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:46 pm

Still think though, the Grey Cup is a better trophy than a trophy that is a football. The Stanley & Grey Cups are the best looking trophies in football.

And those two trophies are not for permanent keeps for the winning team. Perhaps one reason is because at least traditionally from a financial perspective, the two leagues simply couldn't afford to create a brand new trophy for every season.

I posted similar pictures before in the past and here's a picture from the Patriot's last year's celebration:


Some people would say that the additional of the 3 additional Vince Lombardi trophies (shouldn't it be 4 additional?) as extremely superfluous.