Super Bowl LII, 2018: Philadelphia 41 New England 33

Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) and defending Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots, 41–33, to win their first Super Bowl and their first NFL title since 1960, and make the NFC East the first and currently only division where every team has won a Super Bowl. The game was played on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was the second time that a Super Bowl was played in Minneapolis, the northernmost city to ever host the event, after Super Bowl XXVI at the Metrodome during the 1991 season. It was also the sixth Super Bowl held in a cold-weather city, although the stadium is indoors.

New England finished the regular season with an AFC-best 13–3 record, then extended their record Super Bowl appearances to ten, their third in four years, and their eighth under the leadership of head coach Bill Belichick and MVP quarterback Tom Brady. Philadelphia also finished the regular season with an NFC-best 13–3 record but entered the playoffs as underdogs after starting quarterback Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending injury late in the regular season; prior to his injury, Wentz was the media and fan favorite to win MVP after leading his team to an 11–2 start. Backup quarterback Nick Foles was the Eagles' starting quarterback for the rest of the season. With Foles, the Eagles advanced to their third Super Bowl appearance, having previously lost to the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XV and to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Several records were set during Super Bowl LII, including most yards gained in an NFL game by both teams combined (1,151) and fewest punts from both teams in a Super Bowl (one). The game was settled after the Eagles converted a fumble recovery deep within Patriots territory to a field goal with 1:05 remaining to extend their lead to eight points, and Brady's Hail Mary pass fell incomplete as time expired. Foles, who completed 28 of 43 pass attempts for 373 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, and also caught a one-yard touchdown pass on a trick play, was named Super Bowl MVP. Foles' touchdown catch later became known as the Philly Special and joined NFL lore alongside his unexpected performance.

With the loss, the Patriots became the fifth defending Super Bowl champions to lose in the following year's title game, after the 1978 Dallas Cowboys, the 1983 Washington Redskins, the 1997 Green Bay Packers, and the 2014 Seattle Seahawks, and would be followed by the 2020 Kansas City Chiefs.

The broadcast of the game on NBC had the smallest Super Bowl audience in nine years, with an average of 103.4 million viewers. Average television viewership for the halftime show, headlined by Justin Timberlake, was 106.6 million American television viewers, 9 percent less than the previous year. This was the most recent Super Bowl to date where both teams attained at least one score each quarter until 2023, a Super Bowl which also involved the Eagles. The game is also considered one of the greatest Super Bowl games of all time.

Game summary
First half
The New England Patriots won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Patriots kicked off to the Eagles, who opened the game with a 14-play, 67-yard drive that took 7:05 off the clock and resulted in a 25-yard Jake Elliott field goal, giving the Eagles a 3–0 lead. The drive was controlled by the arm of Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, who completed 6 of 9 passes to five different receivers for 61 yards, with a few short runs by LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi mixed in. Foles also made two critical completions on third down plays, hitting Alshon Jeffery for a 17-yard gain on third-and-4, and later found Torrey Smith for a 15-yard completion on third-and-12. The Patriots responded with a drive of their own, almost with exactly the same results; quarterback Tom Brady completed 6 of 8 passes for 60 yards to four different receivers, the longest a 28-yard strike to Chris Hogan. The drive stalled out on the Eagles 8-yard line, where they had to settle for Stephen Gostkowski's 26-yard field goal, which tied the game at 3–3. The game's first touchdown was scored by the Eagles on the next drive, taking only three plays: a short pass from Foles to Nelson Agholor, a 36-yard run up the middle by Blount, and a 34-yard touchdown pass from Foles to Jeffery to the left side of the field. The ensuing extra point attempt from Elliott was missed wide right, which made the score 9–3 in favor of the Eagles. The Patriots responded by advancing the ball to the Philadelphia 11-yard line on their next drive, which was set up by a 50-yard completion from Brady to Danny Amendola, where the quarter ended.

With the second quarter under way, the Patriots came away empty-handed on the drive, as Gostkowski missed a 26-yard field goal attempt after holder Ryan Allen mishandled the snap. New England's defense forced the game's only punt on the next drive. On the following drive, Brady completed a 23-yard pass to Brandin Cooks, but a hard hit by defender Malcolm Jenkins knocked the receiver out of the game with a concussion. On third down from near mid-field, the Patriots attempted a trick play that involved two handoffs and a pass downfield to Tom Brady. Brady was open, but dropped the throw from Amendola. They went for it on fourth down, and a pass intended for tight end Rob Gronkowski fell incomplete, giving the Eagles the ball on their own 35-yard line on a turnover-on-downs. The Eagles capitalized on a drive featuring two key completions, a 19-yard catch by Zach Ertz on third-and-7, and a 22-yard reception by Jeffery on the Patriots 21-yard line. On the next play, a 21-yard rumble by Blount gave the Eagles another touchdown. They attempted a two-point conversion, which failed, making the score 15–3. The Patriots quickly struck back, as Brady completed a 46-yard pass to Rex Burkhead on the first play after the kickoff. But the team could only gain two more yards, resulting in Gostkowski's 45-yard field goal that got the score to 15–6.

The Eagles got the ball back with 7:24 on the clock and looked poised to score another touchdown after a 26-yard run by Ajayi gave them a first down on the Patriots 43-yard line. But on the next play, Foles threw a pass that bounced off Jeffery as he tried to make a one-handed catch, and went into the hands of Patriots safety Duron Harmon for an interception, which he returned eight yards to the 10-yard line. The Patriots took advantage of the turnover with a seven-play, 90-yard drive, featuring a 43-yard completion from Brady to Hogan. On the next play, James White scored with a 26-yard touchdown run. Gostkowski missed the ensuing extra point, but the score was now 15–12. Eagles running back Kenjon Barner returned the ensuing kickoff 27 yards to his own 30-yard line as time ran down to the two-minute warning. Two plays later, on third-and-3, Foles completed a short pass to running back Corey Clement, who took off for a 55-yard gain to the New England 8-yard line. Clement then ran the ball six yards to the two-yard line on the next play. Two plays later, Philadelphia faced fourth-and-goal on the 1-yard line with 38 seconds left on the clock. Deciding to go for the touchdown, they attempted a similar trick play to the one that had failed for the Patriots earlier, in what would become the most memorable play of the game. As Foles stepped up to the running back position, Clement took a direct snap and pitched the ball to tight end Trey Burton, who then threw the ball perfectly to Foles, who was wide open in the right side of the end zone. Foles caught the ball, making him the first quarterback ever to catch a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl, and the ensuing extra point was good, giving the Eagles a 22–12 lead, which was taken into the locker room after a short drive by the Patriots. The play came to be known as the Philly Special.

The first half resulted in numerous Super Bowl records from both teams, including most total yards combined (673). This was also the first time two quarterbacks had thrown for over 200 yards in the first half of a Super Bowl, with Brady throwing for 276 yards and Foles 215.

Second half
The Patriots received the second-half kickoff and Brady led New England 75 yards in eight plays. Gronkowski, who caught only one pass for nine yards in the first half, caught five passes for 68 yards on the drive, the last a 5-yard touchdown reception to make the score 22–19. The Eagles responded by moving the ball 85 yards in 11 plays on a drive that consumed less than five minutes and featured three critical third-down conversions by Foles. The first was a 17-yard pass to Agholor on third-and-6 from the Eagles 19-yard line. Later in the drive, he threw a 14-yard completion to Ertz on third-and-1 from the New England 40-yard line. Finally, he finished the possession with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Clement on third-and-6. The touchdown was upheld upon replay review, as officials confirmed that Clement kept both feet inbounds and controlled the ball. An Elliott extra point brought the score to 29–19 in the Eagles' favor. Brady responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive, completing all three of his passes for 61 yards, the last one a 26-yard touchdown pass to Hogan that brought the score to 29–26. The Eagles followed with an 8-play, 51-yard drive featuring a 24-yard completion from Foles to Agholor on the first play. By the end of the third quarter, the team had made it to the New England 16-yard line.

The Eagles opened the fourth quarter scoring with a Jake Elliott field goal to bring the score to 32–26. Brady then came back with another 75-yard drive featuring a 30-yard reception by Amendola and ending with a four-yard pass to Gronkowski, his second touchdown of the game, giving the Patriots their first lead of the game with the score at 33–32. On their next drive, the Eagles faced third-and-6 after two plays, but were able to keep the ball with a 7-yard catch by Ertz. Eventually they faced a fourth-and-1 on their own 45-yard line with 5:39 left in the game. Deciding to go for the conversion rather than punt, Foles completed a 2-yard pass to Ertz that kept the drive alive. Then after a 1-yard Blount run, Foles picked up three consecutive first downs with three passes to Agholor for gains of 10, 18, and 10 yards, respectively, moving the ball to the New England 14-yard line. Following a 3-yard run by Ajayi, Foles threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Ertz with 2:21 remaining in the game. The play was held up on review; Ertz lost the ball after touching the ground in the end zone, but it was determined that he established himself as a runner and maintained control of the ball as he broke the plane of the goal line. A failed two-point conversion left the Eagles with a 38–33 lead.

The Patriots got the ball back on their own 25-yard line with the chance to mount a game-winning drive. However, on 2nd-and-2, defensive end Brandon Graham stripped the ball from Brady for the game's only sack, and defensive end Derek Barnett recovered the fumble, allowing the Eagles to run the clock down to 1:05 and force the Patriots to use all their remaining timeouts. Elliott then kicked a 46-yard field goal, putting Philadelphia ahead by eight points, 41–33. New England needed a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game and send it into overtime. After nine plays (one of them a 13-yard catch by Amendola on fourth-and-10), New England reached the 49-yard line, and with only nine seconds remaining, Brady threw a Hail Mary pass to the end zone as time expired. The pass was incomplete, and Philadelphia won their first Vince Lombardi Trophy in franchise history, and their first league championship since 1960, ending the third-longest active championship drought in the NFL at 57 years.

The Philadelphia Eagles became just the second team to win a Super Bowl rematch after losing the first Super Bowl meeting with the same team, having lost to New England in Super Bowl XXXIX, and the first since the Washington Redskins defeated the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII; the Miami Dolphins defeated the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII. The Eagles also became the first Super Bowl champions since the 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers to defeat both Super Bowl participants from the previous year in the same postseason. Additionally, the NFC East became the first division where every team had won a Super Bowl.

Game statistics
The combined 74 points scored was one point shy of the Super Bowl record of 75, set in Super Bowl XXIX in 1995; it and this game marked only the second time in the game's history where the teams combined for 70+ points. The game also set a record for most yardage by both teams (combined) with 1,151 yards, the most for any single game, regular season or postseason. The game set many other Super Bowl records as well, including fewest punts from both teams (one), and most yards gained by a team (613 for New England).

Nick Foles completed 28 of 43 passes for 373 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception, and caught a touchdown pass. Clement, who caught only 10 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns during the season, was the Eagles' leading receiver with four receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for eight yards. Agholor had nine receptions for 84 yards. Blount was the game's top rusher with 90 yards and a touchdown. Brady completed 28 of 48 passes for 505 yards and three touchdowns, breaking the record for most passing yards in a Super Bowl that he had set in the previous season. Amendola was his top target, with eight receptions for 152 yards, while Hogan had six for 128 yards and a touchdown and Gronkowski caught nine for 116 yards and two scores.

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