Two teams marched into US Bank Stadium in Minnesota  on February 4th looking to leave holding the Lombardi trophy.  But of course, only one team could achieve that shared goal.

Having escaped each previous playoff game with a win, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots got the opportunity to face off in Super Bowl LII.  The Patriots’ seemingly ageless quarterback Tom Brady entered the game fresh off of the announcement of him winning the league MVP award.  At age 40, he became the oldest player in NFL history to win that award.  The Eagles were led into Minnesota by backup quarterback Nick Foles who got the starting job due to a knee injury suffered by Carson Wentz.  Before this season, Foles had not played a playoff game since 2013, but inexperience did not stop his team from getting the chance to play on Super Bowl Sunday.

“Tom Brady has a lot more experience than Nick Foles in the playoffs which is why I wanted to watch and see how Foles would play in such a high pressure situation,” sophomore Will Huelskamp said.

The Eagles took an early lead in the game with a field goal which New England then countered with one of their own.  A touchdown pass from Foles to Alshon Jeffery led the Eagles in to the second quarter with a 9-3 lead.  The Patriots then scored 9 points in the second quarter which was outdone by 13 from Philadelphia which made the score going into halftime 22-12 in favor of the Eagles.  The first half was highlighted by a touchdown pass that was caught by the quarterback Nick Foles.

“When the Eagles threw a touchdown to Foles it seemed like they were trying to prove that they were the better team because Brady dropped a pass of his own earlier,” sophomore Shelbi Whitlock said.  

Then in the third quarter, the Patriots scored 14 points compared to the 7 from the Eagles.  The Patriots had a late lead in the fourth quarter that was erased by a touchdown by Eagles tight end Zach Ertz.  The Eagles knocked off the defending champion Patriots by the score of 41-33 as they collected the first Super Bowl win in franchise history.

“I think the best play of the game was the touchdown that Nick Foles caught, because it caught everyone by surprise,” sophomore Tim Miles said.

Nick Foles was awarded the game’s MVP award as he posted a stat line that included 373 passing yards, 3 touchdown passes, one interception and one touchdown catch.  This touchdown catch was thrown by former college quarterback, now NFL tight end Trey Burton.

“Foles definitely deserved this game MVP award, because he had an unbelievable game and was a major key player that helped his team get the win,” sophomore Brendan Goggins said.

Now that the Super Bowl is over all the other teams will most likely be hoping to do exactly what the Eagles did in 2018, and that would be to take home the Lombardi.