鈥?Nick Foles did his best Tom Brady impersonation
Rashaad Penny Jersey , leading a late-game comeback to cap a season that began as a backup and ended as Super Bowl MVP.Foles’ journey mirrored Brady’s 16 years ago and ended late Sunday night, with green-and-white confetti falling as delirious Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrated their first NFL title since 1960.No quarterback has gone from backup to title game MVP in one season since Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe in the 2001 season. Foles topped the 40-year-old Brady, football’s greatest winner, in the most prolific offensive game in NFL history, with the Eagles defeating the favored New England Patriots 41-33.Foles finished it off by engineering the type of game-winning drive that made Brady famous, and he watched his defense stop Brady to seal the victory and the Eagles first Super Bowl 鈥?their earlier titles came before the Super Bowl era.“The stage was never too big for him all year,” said Zach Ertz, who caught the game-winning 11-yard touchdown pass from Foles with 2:21 remaining. “To get in a shootout with that guy on the other team is probably not ideal for anyone ever. The guy is the best quarterback to ever play the game.”But on this night Brady played second fiddle to Foles despite throwing for a playoff record 505 yards. Foles was nearly as prolific with 373 yards and three touchdown passes and also caught a TD pass for the Eagles (16-3). Brady dropped his own chance at a reception on a trick play by the Patriots (15-4).That all added up to Foles becoming the first backup quarterback to win the Super Bowl since Brady beat two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner to win his first title 16 years ago.Brady never gave up the job he got after Bledsoe got hurt early that season. He has gone on to win a record five Super Bowl titles. After throwing his third touchdown pass, to Rob Gronkowski, with 9:22 to play to give the Patriots their first lead of the game, he seemed poised for a sixth.That’s when Foles stepped up with the drive of his life to give Philadelphia a championship in a season many wrote off after Carson Wentz injured his knee in Week 14.Foles drove the Eagles 75 yards, converting a fourth-and-1 with a 2-yard pass to Ertz near midfield and then capping it with the pass to Ertz that needed to survive a replay review to make sure Ertz held onto the ball long enough for a score.“It doesn’t get any bigger than this, but I felt good,” Foles said. “I felt calm. I think the big thing that helped me was knowing that I didn’t have to be Superman. I have amazing teammates.”One of those teammates delivered the key defensive play on a night when the offenses combined for 1,151 yards 鈥?the most in any modern NFL game. With Brady poised to lead one of his memorable comebacks, Brandon Graham knocked the ball out of his hand for a fumble that rookie Derek Barnett recovered with 2:09 to play.“When the fourth quarter came we had to go out there and make a stop
Dan Bailey Jersey ,” Graham said. “As a defense we hadn’t been doing it all game. The offense carried us all the way through. At the end of the day we kept coming.”Jake Elliott tacked on a field goal and the game ended when Brady’s desperation heave to the end zone fell to the turf, sending the Eagles out on the field in celebration and Brady to the ground in despair.“I don’t think anyone wallows on our team,” Brady said. “We’re a competitive team. Played hard. Didn’t make enough plays or score enough points.”The questions after the game immediately turned to the future with Foles expected to return to the backup role when Wentz is healthy. In the other locker room, Brady was asked if he would come back for another run at age 41.“I expect to be back,” he said. “It’s 15 minutes after the game ended, so I would like to process this. I don’t see why I wouldn’t be back.”Brady did just about all he could to win the game, with his most glaring miss coming as a receiver on a trick play in the first half when he dropped a pass from receiver Danny Amendola.Foles topped him in that role with his touchdown late in the first half that made him the first player to catch and throw a TD pass in the same Super Bowl.On fourth down from the 1, Foles motioned into the slot, while rookie Corey Clement took a direct snap. Clement pitched to tight end Trey Burton, a former quarterback at Florida. Foles slid into the right side of the end zone, uncovered and caught the touchdown on a play coach Doug Pederson calls “Philly Special.”“Yeah, that was something we’ve been working on, and Doug and I were talking, and he was like, ‘Let’s just run it.’ It was a good time,” Foles said. “And the end was a little wider than I thought
Authentic Brian Urlacher Jersey , so I was like, ‘I really need to sell like I’m not doing anything.’“And it worked, Trey made an amazing throw. I just looked it in and, yeah, we’ve repped it for a while, so I was excited to get it run in the Super Bowl.”That gave the Eagles a 22-12 halftime lead but Brady led three straight second-half touchdown drives 鈥?two to Gronkowski. Foles kept pace with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Clement and another drive for a field goal that kept the Eagles in it until the dramatic finish.“It kind of felt like whoever had the ball last could win this game, and we were just fortunate enough to put ourselves in a position to end the game with that drive for the touchdown,” Pederson said. “Our defense stepped up and did a nice job to finish it for us.”All that was left was the celebration and yet another rendition of “Fly Eagles Fly.”
WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals are getting hot at just the right time.
The Capitals won their fourth straight game and increased their lead in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
The same teams will complete the home-and-home set Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.
Washington (45-24-7) swept its three-game road trip, has won eight of nine, and leads second-place Pittsburgh by five points.
“I couldn’t tell you who is in second, third, fourth,” Capitals forward T.J. Oshie told NHL.com. “I know we’re at the top in our division and we have to still keep going, keep getting points.”
On Monday, the Capitals jumped out to a 4-0 lead on first-period goals from Oshie, Matt Niskanen
Devin Hester Jersey , Alex Ovechkin — his 45th — and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Ovechkin’s goal chased Rangers starter Alexander Georgiev. Ondrej Pavelec came on and allowed only Kuznetsov’s 24th of the season, stopping 26-of-27 shots in his first game action since Feb. 9.
The Rangers rallied behind Lias Andersson’s first NHL goal and Mats Zuccarello’s 16th of the season, but Philipp Grubauer (28 saves) let them get no closer.
“We were able to win the second and third period, but you can’t play a first period like that and expect to come away with two points against a good team like that,” Rangers forward Chris Kreider told NHL.com. “It’s a good learning experience for us,”
Grubauer has fashioned a 1.88 goals-against average over his past 25 starts.
“The guys in here, you could tell we weren’t all that pumped up,” Oshie told NHL.com. “We realize we won a period and that’s about it. (Grubauer) won the rest for us.”
Braden Holtby served as Grubauer’s back-up Monday after being scratched the previous two games with a lower-body injury and is slated to start Wednesday night’s game.
On Tuesday, coach Barry Trotz told the Washington Post that Grubauer suffered “a little tweak” against the New York Rangers on Monday night, and the team recalled goaltender Pheonix Copley.
“Our goaltending situation is really up in the air right now because we’ve got little nicks,” Trotz said.
The Rangers (33-35-8), en route to missing the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons, saw production from two players they hope will help them contend for years to come.
Anderson, 19, the seventh overall pick in the most recent draft, was making his NHL debut
Cole Beasley Jersey Womens , and 18-year old Filip Chytil, chosen 21st, picked up an assist. Both players were called up Sunday from Hartford.
“Both kids had a good game, for an emotional day and an emotional game for them,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault told the New York Post. “I thought they played well.”
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist (upper body) did not dress for his third straight game since being injured March 19. He returned to practice Tuesday and is slated to start Wednesday night.
“We have six games, you want to get out there and see some action,” Lundqvist told reporters after practice. “Try to finish strong here. That’s all we can do.”
In his career, Lundqvist is 21-12-4 against Washington with a 2.65 GAA, a .908 save percentage and four shutouts. Holtby is 9-9-1 with a 2.44 GAA, .918 save percentage and one shutout versus the Rangers.
Ovechkin, with six games remaining to get the five tallies he needs for a 50-goal season, has 30 goals and 18 assists in 51 games against the Rangers.
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