Sunday, Feb. 4 held the biggest annual event in the sporting community, Super Bowl 52, where the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots were to face off in Minnesota. The Patriots were heavy favorites with Tom Brady, the greatest player of all time as their quarterback. On the other side of the coin, the Philadelphia Eagles played with their backup quarterback Nick Foles since Carson Wentz was injured for the season in 2017.
The game itself was exceptional, and as with many families around the world I spent it at a family friend’s house. There were wings and pork, and my dad even made what he liked to call “Super Bowl Dip.” I bring this up because while the game is the main event, it is only as fun as the people we celebrate with make it. Our host set up a questionnaire system where we could predict various things about the game. Whoever got the most questions right would get a Starbucks gift card. It helped make everything exciting. We had to predict if we’d see Tom Brady’s wife during the game or if Justin Timberlake would kiss someone during the halftime show.
That being said, the Super Bowl was one of the best I’ve seen since I started watching sports when I was eight years old. As I expected going in, it ended up being a slugfest between two explosive offenses. The very first drive in the game ended in a field goal by the Eagles. The following two drives ended in a Patriots field goal and Nick Foles’ first touchdown of the game.
Not a single drive in the first quarter resulted in no score. The excitement carried through the second. Philadelphia running back LeGarrette Blount ran it in for a touchdown, followed by another New England field goal. Two drives later, New England scored again on a 26 yard run by James White. However, the Eagles had the last laugh in the first half. Tight end Trey Burton made a touchdown pass to Nick Foles in a highlight that will probably appear on ESPN for the next year.
The halftime show from Justin Timberlake was actually quite good. I was a bit skeptical when I heard he’d be performing with a hologram of Prince, but it was much more tasteful than I had imagined. He also lingered in the stands for a moment at the end to give a child in the audience the chance of a lifetime.
The second half started with the Eagles ahead 22-12 but everyone’s thoughts were reminiscent of last year’s legendary Patriots comeback against the Falcons in the Super Bowl. New England came into the second half swinging, but so did the Eagles as they consistently traded touchdowns throughout the game. The fourth quarter began with the Eagles only up six points, and the game was far from over. It was a nail biter until the Patriots took the ball with two minutes left and down five points. It was set to be a game winning drive until the Eagles got the first sack of the game and forced a fumble by Tom Brady to run it back for a field goal. It still wasn’t over and the Patriots had the ball with one minute left and they were down eight.
Three complete passes brought them to midfield with 13 seconds left for the final play of the
game. Brady hurled the ball downfield to the endzone, but it dropped and the Eagles managed to slay the titan and take home their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history. The entire game, tensions were high and had everybody I was with invested until the end, and the statistics themselves are able to tell the story about how truly explosive this game was. The record for total offensive yards during the Super Bowl was broken with 1,151 total yards recorded. There was a single punt the entire game and the two turnovers were by a single interception from Nick Foles and Tom Brady’s fumble at the end. There were only seven penalties the entire game and the two teams combined for nine touchdowns and five field goals scored, leading to an Eagles victory of 41-33.