Foles has edge at receiver
MINNEAPOLIS — A pivotal part of the Super Bowl was receiver play.
But who could have guessed that two of those pivotal receivers would be quarterbacks Tom Brady and Nick Foles?
Both ran routes on trick plays. A third-down pass for Brady in the second quarter grazed his fingertips but fell incomplete. But on fourth down just before the half, the Eagles scored on a one-yard touchdown pass from tight end Trey Burton to Foles, giving Philadelphia a 22-12 lead.
On the play, called “Philly Special,” Foles initially lined up in shotgun, then shifted to the right side of the formation. Running back Corey Clement took the direct snap, then pitched it to Burton, who was reversing from left to right. Foles rolled free, and Burton, a onetime college quarterback, found him wide open for the score.
“A quarterback going out on a route? I was pumped to go over there and talk to Doug [Pederson], and we agreed on it,” said Foles, who said the Eagles had been working on the play for about a month. “Like I said, we worked on it a long time and we executed it perfectly. That’s probably the best it has looked.”
Said Burton: “The last two weeks, I’ve been elbowing [Pederson] when we’re in the red zone, trying to get it called. Man, he’s got some guts to call it in the Super Bowl on fourth and one at the goal line.
“People don’t realize how good of an athlete Foles is. In practice, all I had to do was throw it and he’d catch it.”