SUPER BIRDS!
and to Nelson Agholor for an 18-yard gain to the 24.
At that point the teams had combined for a Super Bowl record 1,081 yards.
The Eagles reached the 11 of New England when Belichick started taking timeouts. Then came the biggest play of the game.
Ertz caught a slant, was tripped up Eric Rowe and after a step, crossed the plane of the end zone with the ball in both hands. When he crashed, ball first, it popped out and then back into his hands with 2:21 left.
After a few tense moments, referee Gene Steratore upheld the catch, the loud and vocal Eagles fans letting out a roar.
Foles’ two-point conversion attempt was incomplete. The Eagles led 38-33.
Now there are just 12 teams that haven’t won a Super Bowl.
Pederson is the eighth coach to win the Super Bowl in his second season on the job.
And Foles is just the third quarterback to win a Super Bowl after making three or fewer starts in the regular season. He replaced injured starter Carson Wentz.
The Patriots, down by double-digit points in their third straight Super Bowl appearance, didn’t go quietly.
Brady threw his second touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski, and his third of the game to give the Patriots a 32-31 advantage, their first lead of the night with 9:22 remaining.
It was awful, at least for Eagles fans, in that Jim Schwartz’s defense couldn’t cover anyone. Receivers ran free all over the field. The pass rush was non-existent.
At that point Brady had thrown for 457 yards.
The second half was crazy, back and forth, this way and that.
The first half was full of mistakes.
Foles connected on six of his first seven passes, including a 16-yard screen to Corey Clement giving the Eagles first and goal at the fiveyard line.
LeGarrette Blount reached the two-yard line on an inside run.
But on second down Ertz was flagged for a false start, and Foles threw back-to-back incompletions, the second one tipped away by former Eagles cornerback Rowe in the end zone.
The Eagles settled for a 25yard field goal by Elliott.
The Patriots answered with their own 67-yard drive that reached the eight-yard line of the Eagles before Jalen Mills got inside of Gronkowski to bat a throw away in the end zone.
The Eagles minimized the damage of a penalty for too many men on the field, Brady getting a quick snap producing a first-and-five.
Pederson ratcheted up the play calls on the next possession. Instead of the dink-anddunk he called a draw that Blount turned into a 36-yard run and on the next play, he had Foles go up top to Jeffery, in single coverage against former Eagle Rowe, for a 34-yard score.
It gave the Eagles a 10-3 lead with 2:34 left in the opening frame.
Three possessions, three scores.
The Eagles also got burned on Brady’s lob down the field to Danny Amendola. Brady was flushed out of the pocket, drawing the defense to him before letting the 50-yard completion fly.
The Patriots had fourthand-inches at the eight-yard line of the Eagles when Belichick, who lives to roll the dice on fourth down sent the field goal team in. The snap was low, and Gostkowski hit the goal post.
Earlier on the possession, Gronkowski was flagged for an ugly false start. From Belichick to Brady, the Patriots were rattled.
Pederson added a dagger on the next possession with more precision play-calling, mixing up the run and the pass. Ertz got physical with his defender to separate for a 19-yard reception. Alshon Jeffery made a diving over-theshoulder catch in triple coverage for a 22-yard gain to set up Blount’s 21-yard scoring run through two Patriots for a 15-3 lead with 8:48 left before Justin Timberlake.
Pederson went rogue, calling for a two-point conversion attempt that would have given the Birds an 11-point lead. It didn’t work.
The Patriots got a 45-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal to cut the gap to 15-6 on the next series.
But the tone had been set. With each Patriots big play, there was a tackle, short of the end zone. Ronald Darby, Mills and Corey Graham (twice) supplied TD-saving stops in the first half.
Foles was intercepted by Duron Harmon, Jeffery batting the ball in the air, and the Patriots marched 90 yards in seven plays to get within 15-12 with 2:57 left in the half.
James White ran through the Eagles almost untouched for a 26-yard TD. First downs Total net yards Rushes yds Passing Punt returns Kickoff returns Int ret Comp-att-int Sacked yds lost Punts Fumbles lost Penalties yds Time of poss.
Rushing — Passing — Receiving — Missed field goals —
Gostkowski 26. 25 538 27-164 374 0-0 4-98 0-0 29-44-1 0-0 1-41.0 0-0 6-35 34:04 29 613 22-113 500 0-0 3-44 1-8 28-49-0 1-5 0-0.0 1-1 1-5 25:56
Philadelphia, Blount 14-90, Ajayi 9-57, Agholor 1-9, Clement 3-8. New England, White 7-45, Lewis 9-39, Burkhead 3-18, Brady 1-6, Hogan 1-4, Cooks 1-1.
Philadelphia, Foles 28-43-1373, Burton 1-1-0-1. New England, Brady 28-48-0-505, Amendola 0-1-0-0.
Philadelphia, Agholor 9-84, Ertz 7-67, Smith 5-49, Clement 4-100, Jeffery 3-73, Foles 1-1. New England, Gronkowski 9-116, Amendola 8-152, Hogan 6-128, White 2-21, Burkhead 1-46, Cooks 1-23, Dorsett 1-19.
New England,
Gostkowski was wide left on the PAT.
Just when it looked like the Eagles would stall, Clement thundered 57 yards to the eight-yard line on a wheel route to wake up the crowd.
And then Pederson did to Belichick what Belichick tried to do to the Eagles, using a trick play ending with a pass to Foles.
Corey Clement took the snap and lateralled it to Trey Burton who threw it to Foles. It gave the Birds a 22-12 lead with 34 ticks left in the half. Burton, we all know, played quarterback briefly after Tim Tebow left Florida.