How the Eagles Won Their First Super Bowl Title, Drive by Drive

”If they had overturned that I don’t know what would have happened to the city of Philadelphia,” he said with a smile.

Philadelphia’s defense, which relied on superb play by its line all season, spent most of the game generating very little pass-rush, but when the game was on the line Graham burst through for the sack, and Derek Barnett recovered the ball for a turnover that essentially decided the game.

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On one final drive, Brady drove his team 40 yards, but it was too little too late, and he lost in a Super Bowl for just the third time in eight tries.

The effort put forth by Foles in the last two games will certainly raise questions as to his status for next season, as he is currently expected to go back to being a backup to Carson Wentz. While the Eagles will assuredly want to stick with Wentz, Foles may seek a trade so he can start somewhere else, though he said all week that he had no plans to demand such a move.

Here’s how the Philadelphia Eagles won their first championship:

Eagles settle for a field goal on first drive.

It was like watching a replay of the N.F.C. championship game, with Nick Foles repeatedly succeeding on third down and simply marching down the field into the red zone. A few attempts into the end zone fell incomplete, but Jake Elliott came out and his 25-yard attempt sailed through the uprights to give the Eagles an early 3-0 lead.

After a brief delay caused by the lights being too dim for kickoff, Stephen Gostkowski kicked off to Corey Clement who took the ball to the Philadelphia 26-yard line. A pair of quick completions from Nick Foles to Nelson Agholor picked up a combined 6 yards and on third down he rolled out to his left before completing a 17-yard pass to Alshon Jeffery that gave the Eagles a first down.

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A run by LeGarrette Blount went nowhere, with the big running back knocked backward for a 1-yard loss, and a Foles pass to Torrey Smith fell incomplete, setting up another third down, which Foles, after waiting for something to develop, converted with a 15-yard pass to Smith.

Foles found his favorite target, Zach Ertz, for a 7-yard gain then Jay Ajayi had a pair of short runs, the first of which picked up a first down. Foles sold a nice pump fake and then hit Clement for a 16-yard catch-and-run that put Philadelphia on New England’s 5-yard line.

Blount went up the middle to the 2-yard line, but a false start penalty by Ertz moved the ball back to the 7. Foles overthrew Agholor in the end zone, setting up a third-and-7, and an attempt to Jeffery also fell incomplete, setting up Elliott for the short field goal.

Drape: Foles to Jeffery for the first 3rd down conversion showed a couple of things: Coach Doug Pederson trusts him, and Foles can extend plays with his legs. Then, he gets 3rd-and-11 and throws an even better pass to Torrey Smith. The Eagles did everything but get 7 on that drive. Elliott draws first blood, 3-0 Eagles. Nice start, but mistakes add up, and they can’t make many of them. All in all, Foles looks sharp.