My takes?
- The Eagles played an almost perfect game.
- The Patriots played their second worst game of the year, in all three phases.
- The Halftime show was half-assed.
- Can we finally put to rest the "Refs are in the Pat's back pocket" nonsense? The Ertz TD was legit, no question, but the Corey Clement TD should absolutely have been overturned given the way the NFL has defined a catch in recent weeks. He did NOT have control before the two feet touched in bounds (the "last" foot was on the white line).
- I give all the props in the world to Nick Foles; he played well, and he's just an all around good guy, but the Eagles played perfect, the Pats played horribly, and it was STILL a close game. That should say a lot.
- I personally think the Malcolm Butler thing is a non-story. First, they didn't lose because Butler didn't play (though I would have liked to see if he could tackle better than Rowe and Bademosi), and second, that's Belichick, that's the Patriot way. He made a statement and stuck with it. I admire that, and while I'm sure "PATZFANTROY420" knows everything about football, I'm going to put my money on Belichick to know what is the right call in any given situation. If the rest of the Pats played with that level of discipline, it might have been a different outcome.
- Brady's numbers were lights out - over 500 yards, 3 TDs, no INTs - but the reality is, he missed some REALLY easy throws, especially in the first half. There were at least two occasions where he missed Gronk on timing plays down the middle that could have made a difference.
- Fucking sick and tired of "RPO". It's a play that's been around since the dawn of time - I think the real Pop Warner invented it - and now all of a sudden it's got a fancy name? Please.