If we were told before the game that the Patriots would amass 613 yards of total offense, that Tom Brady would pass for 505 yards, breaking his own Super Bowl record, and that Danny Amendola, Rob Gronkowski, and Chris Hogan would combine for 23 catches for 396 yards and three touchdowns, and that Patriots punter Ryan Allen would not come onto the field, we would assume Foxborough would have to make space for another Championship banner.

But that was not the case this year.

The Philadelphia Eagles, who lost MVP candidate quarterback Carson Wentz in December to a torn ACL, turned to their 6’6, 243 pound backup, Nick Foles, to lead the charge. Pundits and experts wrote this team off after Wentz’ injury as the Eagles offense, which was a dominating force under Wentz, did not show the same ability under Foles.

Philadelphia still managed a 13-3 record with Foles going 2-1 to end the season and help them  secure the top seed in the NFC. Their divisional round matchup against the Atlanta Falcons was a defensive tug of war, with the Eagles defense standing strong on fourth and goal near the end of the game to hold off Atlanta. The Eagles clinched a trip to the NFC Championship Game with the low-scoring 15-10 victory.

The Eagles hosted the fierce Minnesota Vikings for a chance to go the big game and the sputtering offense delivered when the city of Brotherly Love needed them most. Foles threw for 352 and 3 touchdowns in a surprising 38-7 rout.

All the adversity the team had to overcome with losing their starting quarterback led to Foles, who admitted to pondering retirement just two years ago. After the big win in the NFC title game, the only thing that separated the Eagles from the Vince Lombardi trophy was the mighty New England Patriots, led by arguably the greatest quarterback in history in Brady. The Pats, the defending Super Bowl champions, led by, arguably, the greatest head coach in history in Bill Belichick. To win their first title, the Eagles would have to defeat a team that just the year before, overcame a 28-3 deficit to defeat the Falcons for their 5th Super Bowl title.

The Eagles came out firing. After the two offenses exchanged field goals on their opening drive, Foles launched a 34 yard bomb to Alshon Jeffery to give Philly a 6 point lead. Then, early in the second quarter, Eagles running back LeGarrette Blount, who won two titles with the Patriots, ripped offtackle for a 21 yard touchdown to extend the lead 15-3. The Patriots would answer quickly to trim the score 15-12,  but after the Eagles drove down the field to the New England 1 yard line, they called an unbelievable trick play on fourth and goal where tight end Trey Burton THREW a touchdown pass to Foles, giving Philadelphia a ten point lead at the half.

The Patriots would not roll over and die. Two second half touchdowns by tight end Gronkowski propelled the Patriots to a 33-32 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Eagles, refusing to be on the opposite of glory, went on a game changing 14 play drive, which included a gutsy fourth down conversion by tight end Zach Ertz. The Eagles capped the drive with Ertz finding the endzone on a controversial touchdown to take the lead right back 38-32.

Everyone in the stadium and everyone watching at home had one thing on their mind when the Patriots got the ball back with just over two minutes to go in the game: We’ve seen this movie before. Brady, in the Super Bowl, needing a touchdown to win is an almost surefire success, but, in a game that saw little to no big defensive plays, defensive end Brandon Graham knocked the ball out of Brady’s hand and rookie Derek Barnett recovered.

The Eagles bled the clock and had the Patriots burn their last timeout before they increased their lead to 8 off a Jake Elliott field goal. One last Brady heave to the endzone was knocked down as time expired on the game clock, giving the Eagles their first Super Bowl victory and bringing the Vince Lombardi trophy to the city of Brotherly Love.