Philadelphia plays underdog once more and takes down New England

QB Foles leads rally to thwart repeat bid by New England

Eagles coach Doug Pederson, second from right, hoists the Lombardi Trophy after underdog Philadelphia’s thrilling 41-33 victory over the defending champion New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, far left, named the game’s MVP, celebrates the victory with his daughter, Lily. Former Vice President Joe Biden, above left, basks in the Eagels’ victory. Pop superstar Justin Timberlake, right, and a cast of thousands delivered the halftime show. More Super Bowl LII

coverage: C1, C4 and C5.

Closer to home, the Lake County Animal Shelter took advantage of a partnership with cable network Animal Planet and held its own “Puppy Bowl” event Sunday to spur adoptions before the big game started.

MINNEAPOLIS — As their delirious fans sang their theme song and their owner lifted the Lombardi Trophy, the Philadelphia Eagles finally could breathe freely.

Yo, Philly, you really did beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in a thrilling Super Bowl that rewrote the offensive record book.

Nick Foles guided the drive of a lifetime, Zach Ertz made a bobbling touchdown catch that had to survive replay review, and an exhausted defense came up with not one but two stands in the final moments Sunday for a 41-33 victory. For the first time since 1960, the Eagles are NFL champions. “Fly, Eagles, Fly,” indeed. “We've played this game since we were little kids, we dreamed about this moment,” game MVP Foles said. “There's plenty of kids watching this game right now dreaming about this moment that someday will be here.”

In a record-setting shootout between backup QB Foles and fivetime champ Brady of the favored Patriots, Foles led a pressurepacked 75-yard drive to the winning touchdown, an 11-yard pass to Ertz with 2:21 to go.

Then Brandon Graham stripsacked Brady and Derek Barnett re-

GREGORY SHAMUS/GETTY (TOP LEFT); PATRICK SMITH/GETTY (FAR LEFT); MARK HUMPHREY/ASSOCIATED PRESS (SECOND FROM RIGHT); PATRICK SMITH/GETTY (RIGHT)

MATT SLOCUM/ASSOCIATED PRESS Eagles QB Nick Foles, who passed for 3 TDs and caught another scoring pass in the win, holds up the Lombardi Trophy. He was named MVP.