By Ben Rodriguez
On Sunday, January 21, the spotlight was on the NFL Conference Championships where four teams duked it out for a place in the Super Bowl to be held on February 4 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the AFC (American Football Conference) game, the New England Patriots and the Jacksonville Jaguars battled it out in Foxborough, Massachusetts while the NFC (National Football Conference) game featured the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—cultivating action-packed play the entire duration of each game.
Final
Patriots: 24
Jaguars: 20
Going into this game, news broke that Tom Brady suffered a hand injury during practice that could affect his play in the game. With that in mind, the Jaguars were hoping to apply pressure early and often. Throughout the first quarter, Brady was struggling against the stout Jaguars defense, only able to score three points to the Jaguars’ zero. In the second quarter the Jaguars started to slash the Pat’s defense with two big drives and two touchdowns, taking the lead 14-10 going into the half. The Jaguars carried their momentum into the third quarter, adding a field goal and not surrendering a score to the Patriots—entering the fourth quarter up 17-10 and the defense dominating the Jaguars looked to be in the driver’s seat. However, when Tom Brady is the opposing quarterback, it is imperative that the team never lets up because there is always the chance he could pull off the miracle. And Tom Brady did just that—leading two long touchdown drives taking a 24-20 lead. With three minutes left, the Jaguars had the ball and were looking to make a game winning drive. Quarterback Blake Bortles, who played great, throwing for 293 yards and a touchdown, was driving until they got stuck around the 50 on a fourth down. Bortles dropped back and fired the ball down field, a perfectly thrown ball to the corner route, but Stephon Gilmore leaped and deflected the pass away—crushing the Jaguars’ dream of going to the Super Bowl.
Final
Eagles: 38
Vikings: 7
A game that was slated to be a defensive game throughout didn’t go as planned for the Vikings. Coming into the game, the Vikings and Eagles both flaunted top defenses and were looking to show just how dominant they were. But only one team proved to be epitome of dominance and that came in the form of the Philadelphia Eagles who allowed points during the first drive of the game. But the Eagles defense was out for blood and later in the first quarter. Patrick Robinson intercepted the pass and took it for a touchdown. On the offensive side of the ball, the Eagles were soaring thanks to quarterback Nick Foles’ 352 passing yards and passing touchdowns culminating in a well-deserved win for the Eagles in a game that they dominated the whole way.
Super Bowl Prediction
Despite the Patriots being on the right side of history during one of America’s most celebrated sporting events of the year, the Eagles will win the Super Bowl 31-28. The Eagles’ defense will set the tempo by getting to Tom Brady early and often. The Eagles will establish the run game—allowing Nick Foles to settle in and get comfortable. The Patriots will be able to score on the Eagles’ defense but the Eagles will outscore them and take the Lombardi trophy to the City of Brotherly Love.