The scene was set. The Eagles had just scored on a Nick Foles to Zach Ertz touchdown pass. First, and of course, it needed to be reviewed and, I’m sure, no one understands the “catch” rule. NBC was forced to show replay after replay and the fans and viewers were forced to wait out the most critical of calls.
Finally, another aspect of the “catch” rule came into play – when does the receiver become a runner? Zach Ertz became a runner, not a receiver, when he broke the plane of the goal line. The Eagles went for the two-point conversion and failed. Instead of being ahead by seven, the Eagles were up 38-33, but there was 2:21 left on the clock.
The scene was set, alright. It was set for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to go down the field and win another Super Bowl. How many times have all the other teams around the league endured this kind of New England victory?
Brady had not been sacked all day and, we all know, when he has time, receivers Gronkowski and Amendola shine. I’m sure every Eagles’ fan was expecting the worst. But Brandon Graham forced a Brady fumble and rookie Derek Barnett recovered. The Eagles scored again with 1:01 on the clock. The margin now was eight. New England could only tie them.
It did not happen. Eagles 41- New England 33.
The Eagles won their first Super Bowl. I watched their last championship in 1960 (I was 14 at the time). The game was played on the day after Christmas in Philadelphia against Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers. The Eagles won the game 17-13. It was the only playoff loss suffered by a Vince Lombardi team. Bethlehem native Chuck Bednarik (nicknamed “60-minutes Chuck”) played center on offense and linebacker on defense. He was awesome.
Fifty-eight years is a long time to wait between championships, but his one was sweeter than most because, much like the Packers in 1960, the Patriots today were thought to be invincible and unbeatable.
NFL football certainly had their problems this year – the National Anthem protest, lower ratings, injuries to many of their elite players (Aaron Rodgers and T. J. Watt to name just two), review after review of plays leading to longer and longer games, and the biggest problem of all – the continuing concussion and brain damage effects of playing the game.
But today, that is a discussion for another time. The Eagles are the Super Bowl champions for 2017! Oh, myyyyy!!
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME SUPER BOWL MUSINGS)
- In the biggest game of the year, why did NBC elect NOT to have a retired official in the booth? Two of the biggest plays in the game, the Alshon Jeffery catch for a touchdown and the Zach Ertz catch in the fourth quarter certainly could have used another set of eyes.
- Can’t Bill Belichick just once dress like a normal person? I threw a party at my house and everyone at the party was dressed better than he was!
- Overall, despite some great challengers (like the M&M commercial with Danny DeVito), I thought the Tide commercials were the most creative. My only question was whether the Super Bowl was loaded with their target audience. I’ll let the marketing people decide if it was a stroke of genius or money that was not well-spent.
- I’m sure you saw the young man who became the focus of the Justin Timberlake half-time show when Timberlake went into the stands. Timberlake ended up taking a “selfie” at the end of the performance with the youngster. If you can believe social media, the boy did not even know who Justin Timberlake was.
- Be honest. Could Nick Foles and his wife have a cuter baby? And the baby seemed to enjoy every minute of her time on camera.
Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks – (LAST WEEK – 1-0; OVERALL – 172-94 – 65%)
SUPER BOWL CHAMPION
Never wrote this before:
THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES!!
