If you're like me, you grew up in a time when the Super Bowl generally stunk. When it was considered a good game if the AFC lost by less than 10 points, and when people said they watched the game for the commercials without a hint of irony. Why else would you watch the Super Blowout?
Those days are gone. Year after year, we're getting great Super Bowl games. All eight of the New England Patriots' appearances in the big game this secondary have been fantastic, with each one arguably topping the previous one. People talk about the salary cap producing parity, but I don't really think that's it. More likely it's free agency, where every team that makes smart, shrewd moves in the offseason can be a contender. You also hear how the Patriots Dynasty is more impressive because it happened in the salary cap era. But I think they've benefited from a free agency time that past champions didn't have.
In any case, I think the reason these Super Bowls have all been so good (and in many cases, shootouts) is the grueling nature of the NFL season. By the time teams make it to the Super Bowl, offenses have the clear advantage over tired, beat-up defenses. There was one punt in last night's Super Bowl; virtually no defensive stops. Just open receivers running downfield time and time again.
Random thoughts:
A lot of the other "best" games haven't been that great throughout. Remember when everyone talked about how awesome Titans-Rams was? That thing was 16-0 for a good portion of the game. It had a fantastic finish, but wasn't actually that great for a lot of it. The same was true for Falcons-Patriots a year ago. Wasn't that great at 28-3. This was a back-and-forth masterpiece of entertainment.
The Foles TD reception might be my favorite Super Bowl play ever. Not only was it a trick play, but it was a trick play on fourth and goal from the 1-yard line when probably half the people watching were thinking "Kick the field goal." And it came shortly after the Patriots tried a trick play pass to their quarterback that clonked humorously off his fingertips. And it was for a touchdown, the first TD reception by a quarterback in Super Bowl history. Surprising! And totally awesome. I just sat there clapping at an honestly surprising and beautiful play. Brilliant enough to make me forget that so many of Philadelphia's other goal-line plays were godawful, like several failed two-point conversions (including one at 15-3 that they never should have attempted -- kick the extra point, guys).
All the evidence anyone needed that the what is a catch rule is hopelessly broken is that no one knew what the ruling would be on either of the Eagles' last two touchdowns. Not the players, not the fans watching, not the announcers. Collinsworth in the space of five minutes went from thinking the Ertz touchdown would stand, to be reversed, to stand. I wanted both to stand and thought both would be reversed, and the simple truth is that different officiating crews would have probably made different rulings on each one. Sure looked like they gave Clement his first foot down before he'd controlled the ball, so he should have got that last toe in for it to be a catch. On the Ertz play, I'm not even certain the ball touched the ground even if they hadn't determined he'd become a runner. Regardless, you'd say it's crazy that those controversial replay issues would crop up were it not for the fact that they've been happening week after week all season long. But hey, at least the storyline of the refs being paid off by Bob Kraft can go away for a little while.
Nice game for LeGarrette Blount. The notion of the revenge game -- a player having a big game against the team that kicked him to the curb -- gains another chapter. I've had a fondness for Blount ever since his rookie season in Tampa Bay (after being released by the Titans), when he had a couple of cool hurdling touchdowns and was a nice fantasy find. Things went south for him there, and I was never terribly impressed by him in New England. And he wasn't great in Philadelphia, either, pushed aside and eventually surpassed by Jay Ajayi. But he had a big game yesterday, a big part of why the Eagles were able to control the game with their offense. Also an impressive game for Alshon Jeffery, who dominated early, and Nelson Agholor, who was great late.
The Patriots are human, OK? In all the media and fan gushing about the Patriots, I've long tried to stamp down enthusiasm. They're great: the greatest NFL team for the longest period of time most of us have ever lived through. Their sustained success in the Super Bowl era will never be duplicated. What I've argued against is the hyperbole. Twitter talk about the Patriots playing chess while all the other NFL teams are playing checkers. Blather about how if the Patriots have two weeks to prepare they're invincible, or how perfect Brady is and how brilliant Belichick is. They're great. But they lose playoff games on the road (four of their last five), they lose (or narrowly win) Super Bowls, they make mistakes in judgment (Malcolm Butler wouldn't have been better than what they put out there at cornerback yesterday? Any why did they trade away Chandler Jones?). They're not perfect. Give them more credit than I do, that's fine. But understand that there are other good, smart, and talented NFL teams too. They just haven't done it over quite as long a period as Belichick and Brady have.
Hooray for Nick Foles. It might be fair to say the last remaining feather in Chip Kelly's cap was that he made a star out of Nick Foles. Turns out that Foles is just really pretty good. Some talk last night about whether the Eagles should trade Foles this offseason, since his value will never be higher. I think I'm in the distinct minority on this, but I think the Eagles should keep him, even knowing that he's a free agent after next season. Carson Wentz tore his ACL and LCL in December. Yes he's just a quarterback rather than a running back, but it's fair to worry he won't be fully healthy at the start of the next season. They might need Foles in 2018 far more than whatever pick (second round, perhaps) they could trade him for.
What an insane last play. Since we've seen some miracle catches in recent years in the Super Bowl, would anyone have actually been surprised if the Patriots had completed that Hail Mary at the end of the game? It was damn close, and some Eagle actually committed the grievous error of tipping the ball up into the air a little. Very close to seeing the Patriots try for a two-point conversion to end the Super Bowl or force overtime -- how crazy would that have been? Only slightly crazier than what we got, I guess.
And that's a wrap. A great game that capped a wild season, and given the number of major injuries that characterized 2017, it's fitting that the Super Bowl should be won by a backup quarterback. Sort of like a former sixth-round pick did some years ago. Congrats to the Eagles. That's one to remember.