Tuesday 6 February 2018 21:50, UK
On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles ended a 57-year wait for a title with a thrilling 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots.
While the party is just getting started for the city of Philadelphia - the team's celebration parade is planned for Thursday - the dust is starting to settle and we have had a chance to look back on one of the best sporting spectacles in recent history.
The Patriots and Eagles provided offensive fireworks at breakneck speed and both quarterbacks had historic performances. Trick plays, big coaching decisions on both sides of the ball and a ton of shattered Super Bowl records gave us talking points for years to come.
Let's look at the numbers from Super Bowl LII...
The number of snaps played by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, who made the game-saving interception in New England’s 2015 Super Bowl victory over the Seattle Seahawks. He’d been starting all season, but was dropped on Sunday. “They gave up on me,” he said.
Turnover forced by Philadelphia. But what a crucial turnover it was - as defensive end Brandon Graham sacked Tom Brady, stripped the ball, and saw it recovered by rookie Derek Barnett. The forced fumble led to a Jake Elliott field goal and a crucial eight-point lead that wasn't given up.
The Eagles took seven minutes (and one second) off the clock in their final touchdown drive that ended with an 11-yard score by Zach Ertz. Nick Foles and company scored on eight of 10 possessions - and five straight to end the game - but none more important than that drive.
Despite remarkable efforts by Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola and the entire New England offense, they still came up short. Their 33 points were the most by a losing team in Super Bowl history.
By contrast, Philadelphia’s 41 points were the most given up in the playoffs by the Patriots since Bill Belichick took over as head coach in 2000.
The last time Philadelphia tasted a football title victory was in 1960. After 57 years of waiting, they can finally call themselves world champions.
The Eagles converted on 10 of 16 third downs (62%), and added two fourth-down conversions for good measure. It appeared to be a problem area early for Nick Foles when he stepped in for injured starter Carson Wentz, but drastically improved in the playoffs.
Speaking of drastic improvements, Nick Foles completed 77 of 106 passes in his three-game playoff stretch for an astonishing 72.6 completion percentage. The only players with a higher mark than that in one postseason are Joe Montana, Kurt Warner and Troy Aikman - all three are in the Hall of Fame.
The 74 combined points were the second most of all time in the Super Bowl, behind the San Francisco 49ers’ 49-26 win over the San Diego Chargers in 1995 (75 points).
In addition to Foles' terrific completion percentage, he also threw for 971 yards, six touchdowns and only one interception - giving him an immense 115.7 passer rating in the postseason. Including one appearance during his first stint in Philly in 2013, he has the best playoff passer rating in NFL history among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts (113.2).
The Patriots certainly don’t have Tom Brady to blame for the defeat as the ‘G.O.A.T.’ threw for 505 yards - a Super Bowl record that broke his own set last year, when he passed for 466 against Atlanta.
Offensively, it wasn’t just Brady and his receivers who had New England rolling. They had 613 total yards, which was also a record for the big game. Philadelphia had the ultimate 'bend, but don't break' defensive performance.
One last record - and part of what made this perhaps the most memorable Super Bowl of all time. The combined 1,151 yards by both teams was the most ever in an NFL game. That's not just in a title game, but the most ever in any game including the regular season and playoffs!
Stay with us through the week for all the reaction and fall-out to Super Bowl LII and follow us @SkySportsNFL through the off season we track the Draft, Free Agency and get ready for a new season!
