Game on!
Super Bowl Promotional Poster
Whether you watched the Super Bowl for the commercials, halftime show, or the game, you were not disappointed by the outcome of the three. The commercials did not disappoint, with the infamous Tide commercials that offered a quick laugh. The halftime show was everything it was hyped up to with be Justin Timberlake offering a tribute to Prince all while singing all of his hit songs. If you watched the Super Bowl as a fan of football, you were not disappointed with that roller coaster finish to the game.
One word has resonated throughout the entire city of Philadelphia ever since the beginning of the playoffs: “Underdog.” “Underdog” is being used to describe this Philadelphia team because everyone wrote them off when Carson Wentz, their star quarterback, went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which was thought to effectively end his and his teams season. But the rest of the Eagles never gave up on their team and rallied behind Nick Foles and the mantra, “Fly Eagles Fly.” Although they got off to a rocky start at the beginning of the playoffs, they didn’t miss a beat and won both of their games against the Falcons and Vikings on their path to the Super Bowl. Thus, the Underdog storyline began.
This hasn’t been a perfect season for the Patriots either, with them being projected to have a perfect season but then ended losing their very first game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The middle of the season was also filled with drama as they traded away Jimmy Garoppolo instead of Tom Brady, which supposedly angered the Patriots coach Bill Belichick. However, even with their drama filled season, the Patriots were still considered to be Super Bowl favorites because they had Tom Brady, the best quarterback to ever play the game. In contrast to the Eagles, the Patriots had a very easy run making it to the Super Bowl. They easily defeated the Titans and Jaguars at home in up in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Then the day of the Super Bowl L11 came and the two best teams met to battle it out and decide who would hoist up the Lombardi trophy. The game started with the Patriots and Eagles with a defensive struggle between the two teams with them only being able to score field goals against each other. But as their nerves settled, the game opened up and the Eagles started controlling the game and went into the halftime show with a 22-12 lead over the Patriots. However, even though the Eagles were playing a good game and completing some very lucky plays you just knew the Patriots would wake up in the second half because of Tom Brady’s greatness. The third quarter belonged to the Patriots with them closing the gap to 29-26 due to the Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski connection leading to touchdowns. Then the final quarter started to what had been a very physical game filled thus far with questionable play calling by both teams and dodgy calls by the referees. The Patriots managed to get the lead 33-32 with nine minutes to go. The Eagles then drove down the field and scored a very questionable “touchdown” with two minutes until the end of the game. This touchdown set the stage for Tom Brady to lead the Patriots to their sixth championship and add to his legacy as the greatest player of all time. But on the very first play of the drive, Brandon Graham sacked Tom Brady, stripping the ball away from him to give the ball back to the Eagles, ultimately ending the game. That was the only sack of the game, and it decided the outcome of the game. The final score of the game 41-33, giving the city of Philadelphia their first Lombardi Trophy.
Games like these are why we all love sports and why football has a very special place in the heart of every fan, because you never know what is going to happen.
