The 2018 NFL season ended with the Philadelphia Eagles defeating the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII.  The game, held February 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, broke the record for the most points ever scored in a Super Bowl, with the teams moving the ball 1,151 yards.

Career backup quarterback Nick Foles, who took the lead role from Carson Wentz after a week 13 injury, led the team to a victory. He was named Super Bowl MVP. His throwing stats were 373 yards with 3 touchdowns, one of which was a reception in a trick play called the “Philly Special.”

Foles and the Eagles, coached by Doug Pederson, defeated Tom Brady and the Patriots, coached by Bill Belichick. This was the seventh Super Bowl for the pair of Brady and Belichick.

The game began with the Patriots winning the coin toss and deferring to the half. The eagles scored on the first drive with three points. When the Patriots got the ball, Tom Brady marched down the field and scored 3 points also. Later that quarter, the Eagles scored a touchdown but didn’t get the extra point.

At halftime, after two more scores from both teams, the score was 22-12 Eagles.

In the 3rd quarter, the Patriots tried to make a comeback by scoring fourteen points, making the score 29-26.

In the fourth quarter, the Patriots attempted to keep the lead and Brady went to tight end Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown; but the Eagles forced a fumble with a sack and put 12 more points on the board, including a controversial reception by Zach Ertz, and came out on top as world champions.

The Eagles boasted a strong run game with Jay Ajayi and LeGarrette Blount both averaging 6.4 yards per carry. The top three receivers were Corey Clement with 100 yards, Nelson Agholor with 84 yards, and Alshon Jeffery with 73 yards. Jalen Mills led the defense with a total of nine tackles.

The Road to the Super Bowl

How did these two teams end up in the big game?

After last year’s win over the Atlanta Falcons, the Patriots, led by Tom Brady, made another playoff appearance as the 1st seed for the 22nd time out of the 55 years they’ve been in the NFL. They were handed a free bye week in the first round.

During week one of the playoffs, in the Wild Card match-up, the Kansas City Chiefs were favorites to beat the Tennessee Titans. But during the game tight end Travis Kelce suffered a mild concussion, and the Chiefs and lost 22-21. In the same week, the Saints beat the Panthers, Jaguars defeated the Bills, and the Falcons beat the Rams.

In the Divisional Playoffs, the Eagles advanced with a win over the Falcons. Also, though the whole game of the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints was close, at the end of the game with twenty-five seconds left on the clock, wide receiver  Stefon Diggs with 137 yards and 6 RAC found a opening and scored a touchdown for 61 yards to secure the win.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, who enjoyed a bye in the first round, lost to Jacksonville. Jacksonville’s Leonard Fournette carried the team to a victory with three touchdowns. Many of Jacksonville’s receivers had many RAC (receive after catch) yards with few touches, such as T.J. Yeldon with 3 catches for 57 yards and Keelan Cole with 1 catch for 45 yards.

Also in the AFC, the Patriots blew out the Tennessee Titans 35-14.

They progressed to the 20th Conference championship game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville was up most of the game but the last quarter Tom Brady led the team down the field and threw two touchdown passes to seal the win.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the Minnesota Vikings went head-to-head with the Philadelphia Eagles and lost 7-38.

The result of the 2017-2018 NFL season was the Super Bowl LII matchup between the Eagles and Patriots.