NFL
“If I were taking a team and a quarterback over the next 5 years it would be the Philadelphia Eagles and Carson Wentz.” That quote was taken by me, The Sports Whisperer, from my pre-season football show. The Eagles won Super Bowl 52… 41-33, over the New England Patriots. Critics are already calling this one of the greatest championship games ever played.
Here are 5 takeaways from the Super Bowl.
5) Defense and running, no longer win championships.
Over the last 5 Super Bowls the winning team has scored 34, 43, 28, 24, and 41 points. The days of ground and pound and winning with defense are the outliers not the norm. The two teams set a Super Bowl record for most total yards…1,151: 538 for Philadelphia, 613 for New England.
4) Has age caught up with Tom Brady?
Brady threw for 505 yards and had three touchdowns. He was 1 Hail Mary pass away from winning his 6th Super Bowl. But, there were two plays in particular, where Brady showed his age. One was at the end of the half where he scrambled and didn’t have enough speed to get out of bounds. The 2nd was on a pass play where Brady was wide open and couldn’t catch the ball. Brady has never been fast or overly athletic. The game is changing, defenses are focusing on quickness rather than power. Over the next few years quarterbacks like Marcus Mariota and DeShaun Watson will be elite players. The dual threat quarterback is the wave of the future. At 40 years old, Brady will now start to decline, and I expect him to play 1 or 2 more season. With that said, he is the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. But, “Father Time” eventually beats everyone. I would be shocked in New England gets back to the Super Bowl with him as their starter.
3) Nick Foles played his way into a starting job somewhere.
In 2013, Nick Foles had 27 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. What he did this post-season is the stuff legends are made of. In 3 games, Foles threw for an average of 323 yards per game, had 6 touchdowns, 1 interceptions and completed 72% of his passes. He was the Super Bowl MVP and played an almost perfect game.
2) Did Eli Manning upstage Tom Brady again?
If you grew up familiar with the movie, “Dirty Dancing” starting Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey then Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr.’s was an absolute hit. Bravo gentleman, Bravo!
“No one puts baby (OBJ) in the corner”.
1)Doug Pederson outworked and out-coached Bill Belichick
Say it out loud… with a backup quarterback the Philadelphia Eagles scored 41 points in the championship.The Eagles had the Patriots back on their heels from the opening drive to the final touchdown of the game. Pederson coached this game with a “gunslinger” mentality. Pederson showed no fear,going for it on 4th down and using trick plays. When was the last time you saw a team, in the Super Bowl, dominate the Patriots defense from start to finish? Foles won the MVP and deservedly so, but Pederson took this game away from the Patriots with his preparation and play calling.
Follow the Sports Whisperer on Twitter:MonteAJP23
