Philadelphia Eagles. Super Bowl champions

Despite being somewhat heavy underdogs going in, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots fair and square in Super Bowl LII.  41-33.

And it was no fluke, though some questionable calls were made -- or not made. You just knew that pesky "catch" rule would rear its ugly head somewhere along the line. Sure enough, it did, on a couple different occasions, both of which benefited the Eagles.

In recent times, this so-called rule has become a joke. Nobody seems to know just when it was enacted (though Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions was its first notable victim a few years ago). Further, it's a crap-shoot as to how it will be interpreted on any given play. Is it a catch? Not a catch? It's ludicrous. I mean, what difference should it make whether a player is deemed a "runner" or a "receiver"? If an offensive player breaks the plane of the goal line with the ball for a nanosecond, it should be a touchdown -- right? Always used to be. But now the rules are different for a runner or receiver. This type of convoluted, brain-warping logic would make even the government bureaucrats blush. Maybe.

Thankfully, the on-field officials, and more importantly the faceless "guys in the booth" back in New York City didn't attempt to change the outcome of the game on a few plays. They let the initial rulings stand. To be sure, there was no undisputed preponderance of the evidence to overturn what the on-field officials saw in the first place. One can only hope the NFL folks get together in the off-season and clarify this mess or, better yet, deep-six the catch rule altogether. Sometimes the old ways are just better. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The game itself featured a little bit of everything, except maybe stout defense. Only one punt during the whole game. Over 1200 total yards of offense. A botched extra point. Another misfire on a short field goal attempt. Trick plays galore. As one would expect of two Super Bowl caliber teams, very few penalties called. Also no quarterback sacks.

There was plenty of buzz as to whether Nicks Foles, QB of the Eagles, would hold up during such a pressure packed atmosphere. He not only held up, but played superbly, out Tom Bradying Tom Brady.

[Idle thought. The Eagles are going to find themselves in quite the quandary during the off-season and the beginning of camp next year. How do you re-sit a guy that played to near perfection once he was called upon, throughout the remaining regular season games, the playoffs and the Super Bowl as well? Sure, Carson Wentz is the "starter" for the Eagles. But he couldn't have possibly played any better than Foles did. Will a trade be in the works? Either way, Foles is justifiably in line for a huge pay raise.]

Who would have thought just a scant few weeks ago that the same Nick Foles, then a back-up, would be hoisting the Super Bowl MVP trophy when it was all over? Yet he not only pulled it off, but deserved every bit of it.

Alas, for Patriots' fans (and certainly Tom Brady), this came as a crushing defeat. Ironically, it was Brady himself that sealed his fate. Late in the game, as the Pats were coming back, (an almost predictable scenario, given their heroics in games past), #12 coughed up the football when attempting to pass. The Eagles quickly recovered, and that was basically game over.

Yet they had one last prayer. With under a minute to go, and no time-outs, Brady and the Pats had the ball inside their own 10 yard line, needing a touchdown and a two point conversion to tie it. Sure enough, they got within Hail Mary range, and Brady heaved the ball into the end zone. A whole lot of people were holding their breaths as the ball finally came down. Could the Pats pull off one last miracle? Though the ball briefly was batted in the air, in the end it finally hit the ground, and the game clock showed 0:00.

Eagles win, and good for them.

No doubt, they're tearing things up in the so-called City of Brotherly Love right about now.

Yours truly had no favorite going into this game. Sure, I admire Tom Brady for everything he's accomplished in his storied career. There is no doubt he's the GOAT (greatest of all time) when it comes to NFL quarterbacks. And he appears to be squeaky clean in his private life as well. A beautiful wife, couple kids, good husband and father, doesn't blow his own horn, wear a bunch of bling, have a fleet of luxury cars, and no "posse". Just your all-American type of guy.

Then again, who can resist pulling for the underdog, which the Eagles definitely were? I just wanted to see a hard fought game and may the best team win -- though I fully expected it to be the Patriots.

And the Pats certainly played well. Nothing to be ashamed of.

But the Eagles were just better on this day.

So hats off to them. They earned it.

For now, their quarterback controversy/dilemma can wait for a while.

Let them party, have their parade, and enjoy it all. Super Bowl champions has a nice ring to it, no pun intended.

But it will surely come.

[Idle thought II. Many, including myself, have played football "squares" in pubs or elsewhere over the years. This is where a 10 by 10 grid is laid out, you pick a square or squares, cough up whatever the stakes are on that particular game, and the numbers are randomly drawn later and filled in. They represent the last digit of the score in the game, typically every quarter. Numbers like 0, 7, and 4 are good. Usually, numbers like 2, 5, and 9, not so good. Anybody unfortunate enough to wind up with 5-5 or 9-9 has little chance of winning because those numbers don't offer typical scores in a game. 2-2 is probably the worst, typically a sure loser. Lo and behold, guess what the numbers were at half time of the Super Bowl? Yep, 2-2. The longest of long shots came in. Go figure.]