5 takeaways from the Patriots’ loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII

COMMENTARY

Five takeaways from the Patriots’ 41-33 Super Bowl defeat to an Eagles team that overcame an historic performance from Tom Brady …

Pats lack of playmakers caught up to their defense

With Chris Hogan’s 26-yard touchdown catch, the Patriots had amassed 495 yards of offense, their most in any game since Week 2 against the Saints – and there was still 3:23 to play in the third quarter. They hadn’t punted. Brady hadn’t been sacked. And the Pats hadn’t turned the ball over.

Yet they were losing the game.

It wasn’t difficult to identify what sabotaged New England’s chances in Super Bowl LII, as the Patriots’ attack wound up gaining 613 yards from scrimmage and it still wasn’t enough — because the Eagles countered with 538 of their own, and ultimately made the Pats pay for a lack of difference-making players on the defensive side of the ball.

For months, the Patriots’ collective abilities and coaches covered for a lack of individual talent that concerned some even as the team kept climbing into the top-five scoring units in football, but when confronted with a well-coached, aggressive, and diverse collection of weapons Sunday night, New England frequently appeared overwhelmed by Philadelphia.

It was most obvious in the most critical moments, when the Eagles consistently found ways to create favorable matchups, then exploited those opportunities. That resulted in going 8 for 11 on third down, and 2 for 2 on fourth down. Four times they picked up at least 19 yards on third down, including each of their two second-half touchdowns, and they scored another on fourth down when tight end Trey Burton threw to quarterback Nick Foles.

With Malcolm Butler mysteriously absent, the Eagles targeted Eric Rowe early. They threw at Marquis Flowers, considered more of a special teams contributor than a linebacker, on a scoring toss to Corey Clement. They attacked reserve safety Jordan Richards when he was in coverage. And so the Patriots repeatedly failed to come up with the big defense play when they needed it.

They never sacked Foles, and – keeping consistent with the season’s first 18 games – never really made the opposing quarterback look confused or under siege. And while they did get a Duron Harmon interception on a deflected pass, it was the only turnover they created in the season’s final five games.

On a night when the offense was humming, and one big play might’ve meant a title, not only could the Patriots defense couldn’t deliver it – they allowed the Eagles to score on each of their final five possessions.

Big plays were killer

The biggest difference for the Patriots’ defense between the first and second halves of the season was that New England had again morphed back into a bend-don’t-break defense. Early in the year the Pats were uncharacteristically getting burnt by big plays that were the results of breakdowns, but after their Week 9 bye they’d appeared to correct the issue.

At least until Sunday night. Entering the Super Bowl, in the 10 games since its bye New England had given up only one touchdown on a play that started outside the red zone. Then the Eagles scored two such touchdowns in the first 22:12 of play, and three overall. The first was a 34-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery that came a play after LeGarrette Blount ran for 36 yards. Two possessions later, Blount took it to the house himself from 21 yards out. Then the third was Clement’s third-quarter catch that came from the 22-yard line.

Clement also had a 55-yard gain earlier, the longest of eight plays from the Eagles offense that picked up 22 yards or more, and Philadelphia finished the night averaging 7.6 yards per snap. No Patriots opponent had averaged more than 6.7 yards per play over the final 12 games of the regular season.

Lack of execution cost them

In any loss, there are laments. But when the Patriots look back at Super Bowl LII, they’ll see missed opportunities that directly cost them points – and, obviously, could have changed the complexion of the contest.

Most blatant were Stephen Gostkowski’s two missed kicks. The first, coming on a chip-shot field goal, was the result of a bad snap from Joe Cardona.

That’s three points.

The second came on a point-after try, which hooked woefully wide and never had a chance. That’s another point.

In between there was the trick play on which the Pats tried to pick up a third and five by having Danny Amendola throw the ball to Brady leaking out of the backfield. Brady was uncovered, and while his lack of speed probably would’ve prevented him from getting all the way to paydirt, had he hauled in the throw he would’ve at least carried it inside the 20. Instead, the throw went through his fingers, and the Pats subsequently failed to convert on fourth down, as well.

Granted, Brady is usually on the other end of such passes – but it was a catchable ball. He should have had it. And, if he had, New England would have almost certainly scored at least three more points. Perhaps seven.

So, after two weeks of talk about experience, aura, coaching, history, nerves, and all sorts of other speculation, the Super Bowl came down to football players making plays. Regardless of what a team has done in the past, or how perfectly it has drawn things up, winning still requires execution.

If the Patriots had executed on three fairly simple plays, they would have scored at least seven – and perhaps as many as 11 – additional points. That would’ve certainly changed the equation in the fourth quarter. And maybe even on the final score.

Don’t blame Brady

After Sunday, Brady’s Super Bowl ledger now shows him at 5-3. There will be those – likely the pundits who regularly point out that Joe Montana went 4-0 in the NFL’s championship game – that hold the three defeats against the quarterback to disparage his legacy.

However, in all three of those defeats, Brady has led the Patriots on a scoring drive that gave New England a lead in the fourth quarter. Sunday that was a precise 75-yard march on which he went 5-for-6 and finished with a four-yard connection to Rob Gronkowski in the corner of the end zone. With 9:26 to play, the Patriots led 33-32. At that point he turned it over to the defense – which, no fault of Brady’s, proceeded to let Philadelphia keep the ball for 7:01 and retake the advantage after 14 plays.

Brady was strip sacked when he got his next chance, then couldn’t connect on a hail mary in the final seconds. But he still finished with 505 yards passing, and even after losing Brandin Cooks to a concussion he spread the ball to three targets (Gronkowski, Danny Amendola, and Chris Hogan) who each had at least 116 receiving yards.

All told, the 40-year-old Brady has now averaged 396.4 yards over his past five playoff games, and has 13 touchdowns to one interception over that span. The Patriots have also scored at least 33 points in all but one of those contests, the exception being the fourth-quarter comeback over Jacksonville in last month’s AFC title game.

So while his legacy supposedly took a hit on Sunday, it’s hard to picture anyone doing it better. Still.

Special teams failures

A bad snap. A missed extra point. And, finally, a questionable decision to attempt a reverse on the final kickoff. The Patriots have long prided themselves on the play of their special teams, but New England’s struggles in the kicking game cost them against Philadelphia.

The decision to get fancy with the final return, when Dion Lewis lateraled to Rex Burkhead, not only cost the Patriots extra time (12 seconds overall), but forced them to open their final-ditch possession at their own 9. By the time they worked the ball to midfield, they had enough clock for only a heave to the end zone. New England is perennially among the best teams in the NFL when it comes to starting field position, but in this game Philly had the advantage by that measure, with the Pats’ average starting position their own 22.

Only one of the misses was Gostkowski’s fault, but that one continued a troubling trend. He also missed a PAT in last year’s Super Bowl, and in the Pats’ loss to the Broncos a year before that. He also missed a field-goal try against the Titans in this year’s playoff. In the biggest games, mistakes can add up quickly. Special teams can swing things. Sunday the Patriots saw that from a different side.

Must-see photos from Super Bowl LII:

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