Super Bowl LII Notes

Taking a different approach with tonight’s blog.  Here are notes and thoughts from the Super Bowl as it’s being watched from First Score Boston.  We’ll post the time of the game for each note and we hope that it creates an interesting read for our followers postgame.  Hopefully this ends with the New England Patriots 6th Super Bowl Championship!

 

Pregame

6:12 PM:  Both teams were just introduced and this is clearly an Eagles crowd tonight.  Will it have any impact on the game?  Doubt it…

6:16 PM:  JJ Watt receives NFL Man of the Year Award.  Many people forget what a great contribution JJ Watt made this year from a fund raising standpoint.  There’s your MVP.

6:21 PM:  Pink nailed it.  Great job!

6:22 PM:  Just a thought:  Prior to the game, NBC had a segment that showed Super Bowl legends.  Staubach, Singletary, Lott, Ward?, Namath, etc.  Then they showed Nick Foles.  Then they showed Tom Brady.  Game over…

6:26 PM:  Pats win coin toss and defer.  Full disclosure:  This was typed before it happened.  It’s going to be the Pats night tonight.

6:27 PM:  While we’re waiting, here’s the prediction for tonight.  31-27 Pats.  Eagles lead by two scores into fourth quarter, take their foot off of the gas, and we know what happens from there…

 

First Quarter

14:47:  Foles to a wide open Agholor for six yards to open the game.  The Agholor runs backwards two yards.  What looked to be a big play ended up being for four measly yards.

13:31:  Foles with a big throw on third down to a wide open Alshon Jeffery.  Receivers are VERY open early here.

12:20: Foles with another big throw on 3rd and 12 and a great catch by Torrey Smith after the Pats forced a third and long.  Foles is looking very good early.  Very comfortable.

9:42:  Foles to Clement on a screen all the way down to the 4 yard line.  1st and goal Eagles.  Philly is moving the ball very easily here.  Pats D looks confused.

7:58:  HUGE stop by the Patriots defense!  Eric Rowe makes a big play on Jeffery on third down.  Eagles get 3.  Huge missed opportunity by the Eagles to make a big statement on that drive.  Moved the ball easily all the way down to the 2 yard line and only came up with 3 points.  Patriots bend, but don’t break in full effect there.  That drive took over seven minutes.  Now it’s Brady’s turn…

7:45:  WOW.  Brady drops back on first play and has three Eagles in his face.  Pass incomplete to Cooks.  Then bounces back with a second down throw to Super Bowl hero, James White.

7:03:  Brady has ALL DAY to throw a strike to a wide open Chris Hogan all the way inside the 30 yard line of the Eagles.  If that’s the type of pressure the Eagles are going to get, they have NO CHANCE tonight.

4:20:  Now it’s the Eagles with the big stop inside the ten yard line.  Poorly thrown ball by Brady to Gronk that could have been picked.  Pats settle for a field goal.  3-3.  This game has the looks of being a shootout.  Both teams very effective on offense with little defensive pressure on the quarterbacks.  Has the look of who will make the big plays in 4th quarter type of game.  We already know the answer.

3:17:  36 yard run by Legarrette Blount.  Of course.

2:34:  Foles to Jeffery for a 34 yard touchdown.  Great catch by Jeffery over Rowe.  Foles doesn’t looked nervous or rattled here, folks.  That was very quick and easy.  Extra point missed.  This has the feel of a typical Pats game vs. a worthy opponent.  When will the Eagles take their foot off of the gas pedal later in this game?  We all know it’s going to happen.  No team learns.

Where is Malcolm Butler?????

2:20:  It seems like the Pats know when the Eagles are going to blitz.  One step ahead.  Don’t get surprised if you hear more “they knew our plays” talk after this game.

1:30:  Brady throws a duck down the sideline to Amendola who was uncovered.  1st and 10 Pats at the Eagles 29.  Blown play by Eagles in a huge third down spot.

0:00:  End of quarter.  9-3 Eagles.  Pats on verge of taking the lead in a game where they’re getting outplayed on both sides of the ball.

 

Second Quarter

14:13:  Cooks end around on 3rd and 2.  Tries to hurdle the Eagles defender who makes a great play.  Pats decide to kick and MISS a 26 yard field goal.  Pats have now had the ball inside the 10 yard line twice and have just three points to show for it.  Game changing tackle on Cooks.

13:16:  Pats defense with a BIG stop.  Three and out.  Foles had plenty of open field to run on 3rd and 8 and didn’t take advantage…his first big mistake of the game.

12:59:  Brady to Cooks for 23 yards who gets clocked by Malcolm Jenkins.  Hit looked OK live.  Have not seen replay yet.  Cooks on the ground.  Hopefully he is OK.

11:58:  Pats trickery.  Amendola to a wide open TOM BRADY!  Brady drops the ball.  Pats going for it on 4th on Eagles 35…

11:53:  Another pop fly from Brady down the sideline to Gronk on 4th down.  Pats hoping for flags on those deep passes way to much.  Not sticking to what works here.  Getting too cute.  That would have been a 52 yard FG attempt by Gostkowski.  Remember that later in the game.  SEVERAL missed opportunities here.

ESPN currently has the Eagles with a 68% chance of winning this game.  Up by 6 just points against the Patriots.  Laughable…

10:18:  Foles to Ertz on a big 3rd and 8 for 19 yards.  Ball on Pats 43.  This could get interesting if the Eagles go up by two scores…

8:48:  Blount with a 22 yard TD run.  Eagles go for two and don’t convert.  15-3.  Patriots D has looked brutal on three of the four Eagles drives.  No pressure.  Not stopping the run.  Not doing anything well, really.  Looks like this one will be up to Brady.

8:34:  Brady to Burkhead on a screen pass for 48 yards.  Nice job by Burkhead avoiding tackles after initial ten yard gains.  1st and 10 Pats at the Eagles 29.

UPDATE:  Cooks is out for the game with a head injury.

7:29:  Pats can’t cash in.  45 yard FG by Gostkowski is good.  15-6.  Going to say it now and put the shield up.  Tom Brady does not look good in this game.  Don’t care what his numbers are.  Wobbly passes and inaccurate.  With that said, fully expect him to turn this around like he always does.

Patriots defense needs a stop here.  Need to gain some momentum before halftime.

5:45:  Jay Ajayi with a 26 yard run on 3rd and 4.  Pat D still not getting stops on big plays.

5:01:  Foles to Jeffery down the sideline.  Jeffery bobbles pass and Harmon GETS THE PICK!  That certainly wasn’t conventional and could have been disastrous, but the Patriots will take it.  A stop is a stop.  HUGE play by Harmon.  Pats have the ball at their own 10 with 5:01 to go in the half.

Does anyone NOT expect a 5 minute drive for a TD to end this half to make it 15-13?

3:31:  Pats taking their time running Dion Lewis on two straight plays for a first down.  Lewis doing a nice job of avoiding tackles.  Ball up to 31.  Plenty of time…

2:45:  Brady to Hogan for a 43 yard gain.  Now that was a Tom Brady throw!

2:04:  James White up the middle for a 26 yard TD!  Gostkowski misses the extra point.  15-12.  Three kicks missed tonight that should have been easily.  Weird game.

Did the Pats leave the Eagles too much time to punch back before the half?  We all know how much momentum at halftime matters.  See:  2018 AFC Championship Game.  Chances are that the Eagles aren’t going to kneel the ball here.

555 yards of total offense here in the first half.  This one is going to come down to the QB’s.

1:29:  Foles to Clement for 55 yards.  50 of them running after the catch.  First down for the Eagles on the Pats 9 yard line.  Pats D fails again.  They have made one play tonight on a pass that the receiver tipped in the air.

0:38:  4th and goal at the 1 yard line and the Eagles are lining up to go for it.  This may seem like a bad call, but these are the decisions you need to make to beat the New England Patriots.  You don’t beat this team with field goals.

0:34:  Trey Burton to Nick Foles for a TD.  No way that just happened…

22-12 Eagles.

Give Doug Peterson credit.  It appears he actually watched the tape of the Atlanta and Jacksonville games.

0:20:  Pats going for points here.  Brady deep ball to Amendola should have been picked.  Brady then throws a strike to Phillip Dorsett for a first down.  Getting 3 here would be big…

0:00:  Pats moved the ball, but just ran out of time.  22-12 Eagles at the half.  Pats get the ball to start the 2nd half.

Sorry, no halftime notes.  Not a Justin Timberlake guy and taking a break.  This is looking like it’s going to be another down to the wire Super Bowl finish.  Why wouldn’t it be?  It’s the Patriots.

 

Third Quarter

14:12:  Brady to Gronk for two BIG gains!  OK, it looks like we know what the second half strategy is going to be!

13:17:  Brady hits Gronk again on a big 3rd and 6 conversion.  Pats have first and goal at the 8 yard line.

12:15:  Brady to Gronk for the TD!  Huge statement by Brady and Gronk right there!  Great drive from Brady to start the second half.  It was just a matter of time.  22-19 Eagles.

What a game…

12:08:  Four penalties on the Eagles.  One penalty on the Pats.  Get ready for the complaining about the officials outside of New England when the Pats win this.

11:27:  It’s 3rd and 6 on the Eagles 19.  Time for the Patriots to make a stop!

11:05: …and they don’t get it (again).  First down – Foles to Agholor.  3rd down conversions have been brutal for the Pats D tonight.

9:23:  If the Pats lose this and Malcolm Butler was available to play, there’s going to be a lot of questioning about that move.  Regardless, it looks like he has played his last game as a Patriot.

9:05:  Chung goes down.  Big loss if he can’t return.  Secondary is hurting.

8:44:  3rd down.  Converted.  Again.

7:18:  Foles to Clement for a 22 yard TD…on 3rd down.  Play under review and call stands.  Expect a lot of second guessing on that one in the post game.  This rule is ridiculous.  Have no idea what is a catch and what is not.  League needs to address this in the offseason.  29-19 Eagles.

More importantly, Eagles just punched back and sent a message that they’re not going to give up this lead easily.  Pats simply going to need to out shoot them and stop a 3rd down conversion AT SOME POINT to win this game!

5:43:  Brady to Hogan for a big gain.  Pats have 1st and 10 at their own 49.  Brady looking much sharper in the second half.

3:55:  Brady to Amendola for 18 on a 3rd and 2.  Tom Brady…locked in.

3:23:  Brady to Hogan for a 26 yard TD!  29-26 Eagles.  Brady has 403 yards passing.  Eagles D seems to be on their heels and can’t stop the Pats passing attack.  Eagles have no choice but to continue put up TD’s to match Brady/Pats.

This game….WOW.  The Eagles have to be getting nervous now.  They have given the Patriots everything they have…and they may be realizing that it’s STILL not enough.

2:14:  Back to back first down throws by Foles.  Any chance Pats can put Butler in NOW?

0:34:  Is the Eagles offense this good or is the Pats D this bad?  Seems impossible to make a stop.

0:00:  Eagles will have a 3rd and 3 at the 17 yard line to start the 4th quarter.  This is a HUGE play.  If the Pats can hold the Eagles to three here, they’ll get the ball in Brady’s hands in the 4th quarter in a ONE SCORE game.  This is the exact scenario the Patriots covet.

 

FOURTH QUARTER

14:54:  Big stop on 3rd down!  Foles to Agholor and he gets bottled up by the pass D for a loss of 8 yards!  Field goal attempt for Philly…

14:09:  42 yard FG by Jake Elliott is good.  32-26 Eagles.  Brady time…

SIDE NOTE:  Wonder how the Lions are feeling about their next head coach tonight.  Eagles have 32 points and 459 yards of offense with a backup QB with 14 minutes to go.

11:44:  Brady converts a huge 3rd and 3 to Amendola.  HUGE!  Amendola continues to make big plays in big games.

11:13:  Brady to a WIDE OPEN Amendola again.

10:41:  AGAIN.  2nd and 1 at the 8 yard line.

10:01:  White up the middle for a first down.  Pats now in control of this game.  Poised to take the lead.

9:22:  Brady to Gronk TD!!  What a catch by Gronk.  Stretched up on corner of the end zone.  Pats take the lead 33-32 on the extra point.  This team…

8:35:  Here it is.  3rd and 6 at the Eagles 29.  Pats can take full control of this game with a stop here…

8:31:  …can’t do it.  Foles to Ertz.  First down Eagles at their own 36.  3rd downs…

6:42:  Huge tackle by Patrick Chung on Clement right there!  Set up a 3 and 1 that the Eagles can’t convert!

5:27:  Eagles GO FOR IT on 4th and 1 on their own 45 and convert.  Foles to Ertz.  This game is NUTS!

The Eagles clearly learned what many teams did not.  Foot on the gas for 60 minutes vs. Patriots.  Win or lose, you certainly cannot question their strategy.  They are taking the risks they need to to give themselves the opportunity to win.  There’s NO WAY the Jaguars or Falcons go for it there…

3:57:  Foles to Agholor for the first down.  Eagles have the ball in Patriots territory on the 43.

3:07:  Foles threads the needles to Agholor for 18 yards.  First down for the Eagles at the Pats 24.  Injury timeout (Chung).

There have been 1,081 yards of offense in this game.

2:37:  Agholor again.  Another first down.  First down at the Pats 14.  Timeout Pats.  If the Eagles score, they’ll go for two to try to go up by seven.

2:25:  Foles to Ertz for the TD, but the BALL POPS OUT as he hits the ground!!  Jesse James play all over again.  Looked like he was a runner there and call will stand, but WHO KNOWS.

2:21:  Call stands.  WOW.  Eagles going for 2 to go up by 7.  IF the Pats get a stop here, they will win.

Attempt missed.  Pats need a TD to win.  Have 2:21 to go.

2:09:  Brady fumbles…Eagles ball.

1:56:  Two minute warning.  Pats need a stop here on 3rd down to get the Eagles to attempt a FG to put them up by 8.  THIS IS NOT OVER.

Do the Eagles throw here?  Foot on the gas for 60 minutes…

1:50:  Eagles run and get stuffed.  4th down.  Eagles will attempt a 46 yard FG with 1:10 to go.

1:05:  FG good.  Brady and Pats need 8 points in 65 seconds with no timeouts.

0:58:  No idea what that kickoff return idea was.  Yikes!  Pats have the ball on their own 9 yard line.

0:53:  Brady misses an open Hogan on sideline.

0:48:  Brady pass incomplete.  3rd and 10.

0:42:  Brady almost sacked.  4th down.  Last chance…

0:26:  First down to Amendola.  Big throw!  Still hope.. Ball on own 22.

0:20:  Brady to Gronk.  Gets out of bounds.

0:13:  Brady to Gronk.  He gets out of bounds again.  Ball on own 33.  Eagles call timeout.  Time for two plays, maybe three.

0:09:  Pass incomplete to Dorsett.  Almost picked.

0:00:  Pass incomplete to end zone to Gronk.  Game over.  Eagles win 41-33.

Nick Foles.  NICK FOLES.

2,500 words and now speechless…

Congratulations to the Eagles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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