The Philadelphia Eagles came into Super Bowl LII needing to pull out all the stops in order to defeat the heavily favored New England Patriots. With one half in the books, they’ve certainly done it so far.
Thanks to the arm of Nick Foles, the Eagles found themselves leading for much of the first half. With their backs against the wall early, the Patriots even pulled a couple tricks out, including a reverse pass play to Tom Brady, though Brady was unable to complete the pass.
Foles, apparently, felt the need to show Brady how it’s done. Leading 15-12 with 0:38 left in the half, the Eagles decided to go for it on fourth down from the one-yard line. Before the ball was snapped, Foles walked up to the line to say something but it turned out to be a trick. The ball was snapped to RB Corey Clement who then ran to the left and tossed it to TE Trey Burton who ran back towards the center of the field. Burton easily found his target in the end zone, Nick Foles, who easily brought down the touchdown pass to make it 22-12.
The gutsy playcall was exactly the kind of go-for-broke move that a team in Philly’s position needs to do in order to keep its foot on the gas in a game like this. Just ask the Atlanta Falcons what happens when you don’t put the Patriots away every chance you get.
For Foles, not only is that his first Super Bowl touchdown reception, it’s his first-ever NFL reception at all.
That is Foles' first career reception regular season or playoffs.
And it's a TD in the damn Super Bowl.— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) February 5, 2018
Nick Foles is the first player in NFL history to throw and catch a touchdown in the Super Bowl#SBLII
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) February 5, 2018
It was also the perfect capper on a wild first half that saw almost 700 yards of offense, two missed extra points, and a missed field goal. The second half has a lot to live up to, and Tom Brady needs to work on his ballhandling skills if he wants to catch up with what Foles has done so far.
