Going into Super Bowl LII, the Philadelphia Eagles were considered underdogs against the New England Patriots. In fact, Philadelphia was expected to lose every one of its postseason games. However, the Eagles won all three games in the playoffs to ultimately win the big game, defeating the Patriots 41-33 Sunday.
It was an entertaining game from start to finish. It was the the quality of the teams’ play calls and execution that led to the game going back and forth keeping viewers on edge. Nick Foles, a backup quarterback, exposed the Patriots defense threading the needle to his wide receiver’s hands. Many Super Bowl records were broken: most combined total yards, most passing yards in a postseason game (Tom Brady, 505), and most total passing yards.
Players were rattled by the amount of pressure at certain drives. There were extra points missed and Tom Brady could not catch a ball when he was wide open. Nick Foles caught a touchdown in a fourth down situation near the goal line to end the first half.
Something New England was criticized for was not playing Malcolm Butler on the defensive snap. He played a total of 98 percent of the defensive snaps in the regular season.
There were big plays, trick plays and clutch plays all throughout the game from both teams.
In Corey Clement’s 22-yard touchdown he juggled the ball after he caught it, making officials question whether it was a catch or not. Following that was Zach Ertz’s controversial touchdown, leaping over the goalline and fumbling the ball. The ball touched the ground but he was ruled as a runner, making it a touchdown.
At the end of the day, the last game of the NFL season was a good one, and it comes at a time when the league desperately needed it.
The NFL season was filled with injuries to some of the best players in the league, which led to a lack of stars in the playoffs. The game dismissed the question of safety of the sport. New England Brandin Cooks got a concussion in the game, but the excitement of the Super Bowl made viewers forget. The question of what is a catch and what is not played a big part in the Super Bowl.
The Bowl covered everything that happened in the NFL due to the excitement it brought. There is no way that Sunday’s game will lower the viewership of the league.
In the offseason the NFL will definitely have to answer the questions of player safety and make a clear rule on what a catch is.