So says the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy:
There was no incredible Patriots comeback this time. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick had the Patriots in position to shock the world once again, but on this night there was no crucial call overturned by video review, no Tuck Rule, no goofy decision from the rival sideline, no fanboy judge or league official to flip the script in favor of the Patriots in the final seconds.
Hard as it is to believe, the Patriots lost the Super Bowl Sunday night at U.S. Bank Stadium and they lost to the better team. Philly’s backup quarterback, Nick Foles, had the right stuff and second-year coach Doug Pederson outfoxed The Hoodie as the championship-starved Eagles won their first Super Bowl, a 41-33 pinball special against the mighty Patriots.
It was a thoroughly entertaining 60 minutes with a flurry of touchdown passes and unstoppable offenses. Brady — the greatest of all time — was still slinging at the finish and the game was not officially over until his final nearly 60-yard heave bounced off a bunch of hands and onto the Patriot logo in the end zone. For the first time in a long time, New England’s Hail Mary went unanswered.
Brady threw for three touchdowns and a Super Bowl-record 505 yards, and he brought his team back from a 10-point second-half deficit once again, just as he did in the last two Super Bowls and January’s AFC Championship game. We all assumed there was one more game-winning surge coming from QB12, but New England’s last real chance (trailing, 38-33) was smothered when Brady was stripped of the football by a couple of Philly fatties deep in Patriots territory with just over two minutes left in the game.
It was not Tom vs. Time. It was Tom vs. Philadelphia. And the Eagles pulled off the upset:
