Philly vs. New England: A Tale of 2 Freakin' Teams

I am going to let the best of the best (John Facenda) say want I want to say (I got mildly emotional watching this.) 

Today is that day of days... Super Bowl Sunday. All 30 NFL teams watch in envy as their fellow brethren get to play in the ultimate game. Pro Football is like no other sport. It requires selflessness, strength, intelligence and grit. Few get to play on this sacred Sunday and even fewer walk about with the ability to say "I am a world champion." Today, while you watch this game think not of the commercials or the commentary, but of the men putting their body's on the line for your entertainment, the gladiators of our day. 

Eagles (13-3) at Patriots [-4.5] (13-3) 6:30pm NBC/NBC App/Hulu- 

PRE GAME: Pink will be singing the National Anthem today. One, hopes she just sings the National Anthem today. I feel using the NFL as a platform to further your agenda is in poor taste. Unless, you are a member of the National Football League. Players and coaches in the NFL have earned their spot to be in the national spot light and may use that accordingly. If she wants to blather at the Grammy's to a pandering audience, be my guest. Not today, not at the Super Bowl. 

1st Quarter: The Patriots come into today 4.5 point favorites in Vegas and 52.8% according to ESPN's Power Football Index. So, my guess is the Eagles win the toss and defer to the second half. Which means, NE starts with the ball. That brings me to my first spotlight player, Pats running back AND kick returner, #33 Dion Lewis. Being the kickoff returner, odds are he will be the first man to touch the ball today (minus Eagles kicker Jake Elliot, who will be kicking it off.) Lewis has had two kickoff returns over 40yds this year and ranks 17th in average return yards. Not too shabby for a guy that also rushed for 896yds, 6TD AND caught to ball for 336yds and 3TD. You may not know this but, Lewis had a hard start in the NFL... and it all started with Philly. Drafted by the Eagles in 2011 he sat behind none other than LeSean McCoy (who took 70+ percent of the snaps.) Eventually, he was traded to the Browns where he broke his fibula and ended up on IR... and then cut the following season. Picked up by the Colts who then had to make a roster move... cut again. And in 2015 ended up where he is today, in New England where he is currently the clear cut starter. Side note: Mike Gillislee and Rex Burkhead both had FIVE rushing TDs as well this season. 

END OF THE 1st Quarter: NE-10 PHI-3

2nd Quarter: The Patriots really held onto the ball in the first quarter and kept that outstanding Eagles on the field. But, one defensive end stepped up and made an impact play to end that quarter, #55 Brandon Graham. He lead the Eagles in sacks this year with 9.5 and also forced two fumbles. Defensive linemen have to be selfless, a lot of the time defensive ends have to keep contain on the edge or take double teams from the tackle and tight end every snap. This allows the linebackers to flow free to the QB who hopefully makes bad decision. The Eagles have prospered on that this year, ending 4th overall in total interceptions (18 total.) It's hard to rattle Tom Brady's cage. But, he does not like to get hit. To the point where a defender may just breeze by and Brady will fall to the ground like a house of cards. Solid play by Graham and the Eagles front seven lead to some uncharacteristic mistakes of Brady going into halftime. 

Halftime: NE-13 PHI-10

Halftime Show: It's Justin Timberlake. JUST Justin Timberlake. Thankfully. Who I am a fan of in general. Especially, with his work on SNL and anything that he does with Andy Samberg's Lonely Island group. BUT! Of course, he is still a celebrity which means, he has opinions. This week he declared that "he would not let his son play football." Shoot. Well, I guess Brockport (Upstate New York D3 School) won't have a 7th string DB in 18yrs. What a shame. Why was that worth reporting on? What we should be talking about is Houston's J.J. Watt winning the Walter Peyton Man of the Year award for raising over 30 million dollars to help rebuild homes and lives in Houston. I said all this to say, the NFL and its players, coaches and owners do A LOT of good things for this country BUT, it is constantly overshadowed by a few delinquents. Sadly, that doesn't make for solid click bait.

3rd Quarter: BAM! Stephen Gostkowski booms the ball into the endzone for a touchback. Out comes strong safety #30 Duron "The Closer" Harmon for the Pats. He is a long time Patriots 'silent starter.' Meaning he makes the plays but doesn't make the headlines. In his career he has had TEN interceptions in the four quarter, hence "The Closer." Harmon, along with fellow safeties Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung have a tall task today. They will have to keep Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith and Nelson Agholor in check. A safeties #1 assignment is to "keep everything in front of him and you should always be the deepest of the deep." Which will be hard with three receivers that are all burners. The question is, does Doug Pederson trust QB Nick Foles enough to truly go vertical with the passing game? Kind of. 

END OF THE 3rd Quarter: NE-17 PHI-20

4th Quarter: Brady comes out firing. The Hoodie is not going down without a fight. Foles is sacked. Gostkowski field goal. Another poor offensive series. And another Gostkowski field goal. The Eagles defense is winded, the Philly fans are booing... but... is Matt Patricia thinking about his new staff in Detroit? The Patriots have a clumsy offensive possession that ends with the Eagles getting good field position with under three minutes left. What was up with that series? Did offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels spend time this week putting a plan together for Andrew Luck instead of watching more game film? Now under three minutes left. The clock is running, the fans are screaming... the ball is snapped... Foles drops back... steps up into the pocket... under two minutes left, Jay Ajayi is kind of open in the flats... but wait, there he is, wide open on in the seam of that Patriots (somewhat conservative zone,) #86 Zach Ertz. BOOM. Down inside the 7 yard line. TIMEOUT! Ertz, is an incredible target and somewhat not discussed a lot. For tight ends this year he was third in total yards (824,) third in receptions (74,) and third for first down catches. Philly comes out in a three receiver set, Foles hard counts. Patriots time out. Now a true goal-line  set (23 personal [2 RB, 3 TE] if you will.) Legarrette Blount up the middle... is he in? No. Down at the two yard line. Everyone is out of timeouts, the clock is running under a minute to go, third and goal from the 2yd line. Philly OC Frank Reich is old school. He's seen this before. BOOM. Up the gut with Blount again. One yard gain. 

Under 20 seconds to go. 

4th and goal from the one. 

No field goal unit. Pederson and Reich knows the outcome of an overtime with the Patriots. 

Three tights, two backs. It's Blount up the middle... is he in?! 

The clock is at zero...

TOUCHDOWN PHILADELPHIA!                     

FINAL SCORE: Patriots- 23 Eagles- 27

MVP: Legarrette Blount- 23car, 82yds, 2TD