MINNEAPOLIS  — What a game.

Yet again, the Super Bowl did not disappoint in being a nail-biting game. 

After what appeared to be yet another comeback victory for the New England Patriots, the Philadelphia Eagles did what few believed was possible — preventing Tom Brady from making a comeback victory. 

Ultimately, the Philadelphia Eagles were able to secure the 41-33 Super Bowl victory in a huge upset against the Patriots. 

The game more than likely marked the final game as a Patriot for two key assistant coaches on the New England staff. 

Both of New England’s coordinators are expected to accept head coaching roles in the coming days with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels expected to join the Indianapolis Colts and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia expected to take over the Detroit Lions. 

RELATED: Patriots expected to lose two key coaches

First Quarter Summary

On the first drive of the contest, the Eagles were able to get on the scoreboard after 14 plays and with 7:58 left in the quarter thanks to a Jake Elliot 25 yard field goal. 

The Patriots countered on the following drive, which consisted of nine plays, by knotting the game 3-3 with 4:20 left in the quarter thanks to a Stephen Gostkowski 26 yard field goal. 

On the game’s third drive, and the second for Philadelphia, the Eagles grabbed a 9-3 lead when Alshon Jeffrey caught a 34 yard pass from Nick Foles with 2:34 remaining the opening quarter. Elliot was not able to connect on the extra point attempt. 

Second Quarter Summary

The fourth drive of the game saw the Patriots quickly work their way down the field into Philadelphia territory and fell short of the endzone to open up the second quarter. 

In fact, due to a bad snap, the Patriots were not able to capitalize on a 26 yard field goal attempt leaving the game 9-3 with the Eagles on top with 14:13 remaining until the halftime break. 

Both the Eagles and Patriots were unable to get on the scoreboard on their next respective drives, with the Patriots’ third down trick play involving Tom Brady trying his hand at catching a pass resulting in a failed attempt at a different role for New England’s prize quarterback.  

With 8:48 remaining in the second, former Patriot and current Eagle LeGarrette Blount rushed his way into the end zone with a 21 yard touchdown to give Philadelphia a 15-3 advantage. The Eagles were not able to capitalize on a two-point conversion attempt. 

New England fans received a huge boost of energy when Rex Burkhead used his speed to rush for 46 yards. But, the Patriots were not able to use that momentum to find the end zone and settled for a 45 yard field goal by Gostkowski.  

On the following drive with the Eagles looking to score, New England Patriot Duron Harmon intercepted a Foles pass intended for Jeffrey at New England’s two yard line with 5:15 until the half.

A few incomplete passes from Brady to various intended targets fell short until Brady was able to connect with Chris Hogan for a 43 yard pass. 

James White was able to feed off the energy of Patriots fans and rushed his way into the end zone on a 26 yard run. Gostkowski missed the following extra point attempt and the Eagles maintained a 15-12 advantage with 2:04 remaining until the half. 

Corey Clement turned on his motors to rush for 55 yards down to the New England eight yard line before pushing the Eagles to the two yard line on the next play and to the one yard line on the following play. 

Despite being only a yard away from the end zone, the Eagles opted for a pass attempt that fell incomplete to bring up fourth and goal. 

On fourth and goal with less than a minute remaining in the half, the Eagles opted to go for it and used a trick play of Trey Burton tossing a one yard pass to Foles for a touchdown. Elliot completed the extra point attempt to give Philadelphia the 22-12 advantage heading into the halftime break. 

Third Quarter Summary

The Patriots opened the second half with Rob Gronkowski making the most noise for the reigning Super Bowl champions as he made four key catches during the team’s pursuit of the end zone, including a five yard catch for a touchdown with 12:15 remaining in the third. Gostkowski made the extra point attempt to cut the Philadelphia advantage down to 22-19. 

On the Eagles first possession of the second half, the Eagles were able to extend its lead when Clement grabbed a 22 yard pass from Foles for a touchdown with 7:33 remaining in the half. The officials then reviewed the play and determined the play was in fact a touchdown, a questionable call to likely all New England fans. Elliot connected on the extra point attempt to make it a 29-19 contest with 7:18 remaining. 

The Patriots brushed it off and quickly followed up with a touchdown of their own when Hogan caught a 26 yard pass. Gostkowski made the extra point attempt to make it a 29-26 contest with 3:23 remaining in the quarter. 

Fourth Quarter Summary

The next drive for the Eagles, which started in the third quarter, resulted in a 42 yard field goal attempt by Elliot that was successful and made it a 32-26 game with 14:09 left in the contest. 

The New England Patriots saw Danny Amendola make three key catches on the next drive of the game, a drive that resulted in Gronkowski making a four yard catch for a touchdown with 9:26 left in the big game. Gostkowski made the extra point attempt to give the Patriots its first advantage of the contest by a score of 33-32. 

RELATED: Pats’ huge comeback stuns Falcons in historical Super Bowl

The Eagles nearly had to abandon hopes of getting on the scoreboard during their next drive, but Foles managed to complete a short pass on a 4th-and-1 situation to extend the drive. The Eagles would then secure a touchdown on an 11 yard pass to Zach Ertz. The two point conversion attempt was not successful thus making the score 38-33 in Philadelphia’s favor with 2:21 remaining in the nail-biting game. 

The Eagles were shortly thereafter able to smack the ball away from Tom Brady, New England’s sole turnover of the game, just as he began to make a throw with 2:09 remaining in the contest. 

With 1:10 remaining, Elliot connected on a 46 yard field goal attempt to extend Philadelphia’s advantage to 41-33. 

On the final drive of the contest, Tom Brady had three consecutive incomplete passes before making three consecutive passes to keep football fans on the edge of their seats with 13 seconds remaining in the game. 

Another incomplete pass took the clock down to nine seconds before Brady launched a pass to the end zone that fell incomplete as the clock ran out. 

Reach George Harvey and the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.