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QB Nick Foles has underdog Eagles headed to Super Bowl LII

The Philadelphia Eagles have thrived as underdogs in back-to-back playoff wins to book their ticket to Super Bowl LII. They will embrace that role once more when they clash with the New England Patriots in Minnesota two Sundays from now.

After surviving a divisional round scare from the Atlanta Falcons with a 15-10 win, the Eagles made a statement with a 38-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game.

Meanwhile, the Patriots followed up a 35-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round with a dramatic 24-20 comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars to reach their third Super Bowl in four years.

New England is listed as a 5.5-point favourite versus Philadelphia. With plenty of time to look forward to Super Bowl LII, here are some key storylines worth revisiting from Championship Sunday.

Tom Brady does it again

In the final moments of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, Tony Romo yelled out what was probably on the minds of most people watching the game: “Tom Brady does it again!”

Romo was referring to another double-digit fourth-quarter playoff comeback by the Patriots. There was no Julian Edelman and no Rob Gronkowski, but it didn’t matter.

Brady, who will turn 41 in August, threw for 158 yards and two touchdowns against the league’s top-ranked pass defence in the final frame. He did it with at least 10 stiches in his throwing hand. For the 10th time in his career, Brady led New England to a comeback win after trailing by 10 points or more in the fourth quarter. Four of those double-digit comebacks happened in playoff games, including a win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX and a win over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.

After clinching his eighth conference championship, Brady will turn his attention to capturing a sixth Super Bowl ring in Super Bowl LII. Football fans love to debate which quarterback deserves to be called the greatest quarterback of all time. By the time it’s all said and done, it will be difficult to argue against Brady’s career resume.

Will Gronk be ready?

The Patriots are optimistic tight end Rob Gronkowski will play in Super Bowl LII after a concussion knocked him out of the AFC Championship game.

While New England survived a date with Jacksonville without its top receiving threat, Gronkowski’s injury underlined a major flaw with the NFL’s attempt to take head injuries out of the game. Gronkowski was visibly shaken after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jaguars safety Barry Church.

According to league rules, Gronkowski had to leave the game and enter the concussion protocol. Jacksonville was assessed a 15-yard penalty. However, Church remained in the game. In this situation, Gronkowski would have picked up more than 15 yards if he were able to complete the catch without taking a helmet-to-helmet hit by Church. Instead, New England gained fewer yards as a result of the penalty and lost its most dangerous weapon on offence to injury while Church remained in the game.

While the rules surrounding the NFL’s concussion protocol are designed to protect the player after they suffer a head injury, the current rules aren’t strong enough to prevent the head injury from occurring in the first place. If the league is serious about taking head injuries out of the game, they need to adjust the rules to create stricter penalties for helmet-to-helmet hits, regardless of intention. Until that happens, players will remain vulnerable to the type of dangerous hits that knocked Gronkowski out of the AFC Championship game.

Foles gold  

The Eagles' consensus weak link heading into the playoffs seemed obvious following a season-ending injury to franchise quarterback Carson Wentz.

Foles had made just four starts since 2015 and he didn’t look very good in either of his final two regular-season appearances for Philadelphia. So when the Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship, there was plenty of talk about how Foles would be in tough against Minnesota’s top-ranked defence. Few expected what happened next.

Foles completed 26-of-33 pass attempts for 352 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-7 blowout win. The most impressive aspect of Foles’ game was his ability to consistently hit big time throws down the field. Remember, Foles completed just 2-of-15 pass attempts that travelled 20 yards or more downfield in his previous four starts for Philadelphia. He completed 4-of-6 deep passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings.

Can he deliver again versus the Patriots on the biggest stage of them all? One thing is for sure. Foles will need to be at his best opposite Brady to give the Eagles a chance in Super Bowl LII.

Vikings’ QB conundrum

One week after the Minneapolis Miracle, Minnesota crashed and burned in the NFC Championship game. The Vikings top-ranked defence struggled to generate consistent pressure on Foles, missed tackles, and gave up several big plays.

Meanwhile, Case Keenum struggled under pressure and was held to 28-of-48 for 271 yards, a touchdown, two interceptions and a fumble.

For as disappointing as last week’s performance was there is still plenty of reason for optimism moving forward. Minnesota has the talent to contend in the NFC again next season. The question now is what they will do with one of the most unique quarterback situations in the NFL.

After thriving down the stretch, Keenum is set to hit free agency this off-season. Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater are also in the final year of their deals. The Vikings have to choose between three potential starters with a good chance that two of the three passers on their roster end up starting elsewhere.

With a dearth of starting-calibre quarterbacks around the NFL, it seems like a good problem to have. However, there will be a ton of pressure on management to make the right call. With offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur headed to New York to become head coach of the Giants, it will also be interesting to see who Minnesota brings in to replace him.

The Vikings proved this season they aren’t far away from contending for a Super Bowl. Choosing from three options at quarterback and finding a new offensive coordinator are two key decisions that will play a significant role in shaping both the short and long-term future of the franchise.

Crossroads in Jacksonville

The Jaguars will also have to address their quarterback situation this off-season with a few different options.

First, they need to decide whether to bring back Blake Bortles. Jacksonville picked up Bortles’ fifth-year, $19-million option for next season but they still have two months to decide whether to keep him before the first day of the next league year. The Jaguars could sign Bortles to a long-term deal, let him play out his fifth-year option or cut him before March 14 and go in a different direction altogether.

Despite the inconsistent quarterback play that limited them all year, Jacksonville was only minutes away from a trip to the Super Bowl before a fourth-quarter collapse in New England.

With one of the league’s best defences, a dominant ground game led by running back Leonard Fournette and some intriguing weapons at wide receiver and tight end, the Jaguars might very well be an above-average quarterback away from contending for a Super Bowl next season.