Yes, for once “brotherly love”
trumped Trump’s gang. The Philadelphia Eagles, with its core of black wide
receivers, got the best of the New England Patriots and their squad of
all-white wide receivers in the Super Bowl, which Tom Brady apparently favors
for reasons we can only “speculate” on. We of course know that the Patriots’
“Big Three”—Brady, coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft—are all
idolizers of Donald Trump, so at least we can pass a few days knowing that
Trump will shut-up about how “great” the Patriots and his good friend Tom are.
As for the game itself, it was
remarkably free of defense for almost the entire game, with a record 1151 yards
accounted for. Nick Foles’ first half interception occurred when the Eagles
were driving for another apparent easy score, and the Eagles’ defense had no
answers between the 20s. But was it not remarkable how the Patriots managed
just 12 first half points on 350 total yards of offense? I mean, that’s just 24
points on 700 yards over an entire game. A botched field goal attempt, loss on
downs and running out of time ended three potential scoring drives and
accounted for 150 of those yards, uselessly spent. Brady threw for 276 yards in
the first half, but 213 were accounted for on just six passes; on his other 18
pass attempts, just 63 yards were gained, showing how the Patriot offense
stalled at inopportune times. The Eagles’ offense, on the other hand, was more
efficient, scoring touchdowns on three long drives and nearly matching the
Patriots offensive yardage output (323 yards), and led 22-12 at halftime.
In the second half, the Eagles
did not do what the Atlanta Falcons did in last year’s Super Bowl—wilt under
pressure. After the Patriots marched effortless for a touchdown to pull within
three points, Foles marched the Eagles 85 yards for a matching touchdown. Both
teams traded scores on their next two drives, and the Eagles were up 38-33 with
2:21 left in the game. For those on both sides of the aisle, this was the game;
there was a high probability that given the history, Brady would lead a
game-winning touchdown drive despite no timeouts remaining. That was just the
law of averages; we have seen this magic act before. On the other side, the
Eagles’ defense had been so porous throughout that something “good” had to happen, just as the Packers defense stopped
the Steelers on fourth down late in the 2010 Super Bowl. There had to be just
one great defensive play to pull out of the hat, like that mind-numbing
interception that Russell Wilson threw at the goal line that prevented a sure
Super Bowl victory over the Patriots.
But this time, it was the “great”
Tom Brady and the Patriots who were victimized by the play of the game, when Brandon
Graham strip-sacked Brady and Derek Barnett recovered the ball. An Eagle field
goal set-up a final desperation heave into the end zone, but Brady is no Aaron
Rodgers in that department, and by a final score of 41-33, the Philadelphia did
what most of us were praying for: someone—anyone—to take down that arrogant “giant.”
Trump likes “big,” constantly belittling the “little guy”; this time, the “little
guy” cut the Goliath down to size. We need to hope that we can take down the
arrogant, narcissistic Trump likewise.
It is interesting to note just
how “lucky” the Patriots have been to win all their Super Bowls. Their first three
victories were all won by a field goal, and the victories over the Seahawks and
Falcons were one bungled play from defeat. Being a Packer fan, it was
satisfying that for at least this year Belichick and Brady failed to surpass
Lombardi and Starr for the most NFL championships by a coach/quarterback combo.
The Lombardi teams, despite playing in a game where the talent was evenly distributed
(but not as well coached), were clearly the class act in their championship
games, even in their loss to the Eagles in 1960, when they were driving for the
winning score before time ran out. While five Super Bowl wins is impressive
(one fewer than the Steelers), it also should be noted that the Patriots five
Super Bowl losses are also the most of any team.
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