The Eagles triumphed exactly when their hearts were supposed to break

Tom Brady has made a career out of killing opponents’ dreams in the final moments of games. But on Sunday it was Philadelphia who held their nerve

To grasp the improbability of the play that clinched Super Bowl LII for the Philadelphia Eagles, you must understand the brilliance of Tom Brady. He has been the NFL’s top quarterback for nearly two decades, a league MVP at 40, because he avoids the inevitable part of football: getting hit.

That’s frustrating for opposing defenses, especially in an era in which teams spend heavily on players whose primary task is to knock the quarterback to the ground. Brady appears to be an easy target for pass rushers. He is tall and slow. He does not move with any great agility. And yet, he has a remarkable ability to see an open receiver, releasing the ball before the defense swarms in.

For almost 60 minutes on Sunday, Brady flummoxed the Eagles pass rushers. They grappled with New England’s linemen, barreling in on Brady but never soon enough. A few times they jostled him but always after he had already thrown his pass.

It had been an agonizing night for Philadelphia’s defensive players as they headed onto the field with 2:21 left and their team holding a five-point lead. Now they had to be terrified. The Patriots were 75 yards from the touchdown that could win Super Bowl LII: Brady territory, where he forever evades rushers and wins the game.

“I know a lot of people at home were like: ‘Where’s the Philly pass rush? These guys are supposed to be awesome but they are nowhere to be found,’” defensive end Chris Long said after the game.

Long was perhaps the Eagles player who best understands Brady’s greatness at such moments. He played for the Patriots last year, watching Brady lead the team on an amazing fourth-quarter comeback in Super Bowl LI. He saw what so many other New England players have over the years, how Brady studies defenses like a defensive coach rather than a quarterback – something taught to him by Patriots coach Bill Belichick, a defensive genius himself. He has been able to read imperfections in a way other quarterbacks cannot. It’s a skill that has made rushing him almost useless and why he rarely gets hit.

Through the night, Long kept reminding the Eagles defensive players to remain persistent in their pursuit of Brady. He said they had prepared for New England to be extra vigilant in protecting their superstar, adding extra blockers and asking their running backs to momentarily slow the rushers in what is called a “chip block” before running downfield, buying Brady an extra second to throw.

“We knew that might happen,” Long said. “We didn’t know it would happen for three quarters.”

Actually it was four quarters. And as Brady completed pass after pass, on his way to setting a Super Bowl record with 505 passing yards, it was harder and harder for the Eagles defense to keep up the presure.

“Don’t get frustrated,” they said again and again on the sidelines.

But how could they not? Brady had kept the game close for much of the night and seemed to be getting better. With 9:22 left he even gave New England a one-point lead with a touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski. This is exactly when Brady breaks opponents’ hearts.

“We just had to keep on rushing and the plays will come,” defensive end Derek Barnett recalled.

“Nobody panicked,” defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. “We knew that it would come back to a couple of plays.”

The first play of the drive that was supposed to crush the Eagles was vintage Brady, vintage Patriots. Brady threw a quick pass to Gronkowski who ran for eight yards, deftly ducking out of bounds, stopping the clock with 2:16 left, saving precious time before the two-minute warning. The play was so precise, so efficient, it seemed a signal that the end was nigh for the Eagles.

Don’t get frustrated.

Before the next play, Cox looked at fellow defensive tackle Brandon Graham, a man who had played by his side for six seasons, a player – who like him – had lived the frustration of the Eagles, a team who had come close to winning the big game but never had.

“Do your thing,” Cox said.

When the ball was snapped, Graham, who had pushed straight into Patriots guard Shaq Mason all night, instead grabbed Mason’s arm and twisted his body just as Brady pulled back to throw. It was a small thing, but just enough to startle Mason. For just a second Graham was free. He could see the ball in Brady’s hand and with a lunge, he dropped his palm on the ball. He felt the ball pop from Brady’s grasp.

Don’t get frustrated.

Everything seemed to stop. New England’s players looked bewildered. Brady fumble? Brady never fumbles. Not at times like this. The ball rolled on the ground. Barnett saw it and scooped it up.

“It was a good bounce,” he said.

He tried to run to the end zone but was soon tackled. Not that it mattered. They had broken Brady just when Brady was supposed to break them. Three players later, the Eagles kicked a field goal that made the score 41-33 and all but sealed the game. No Brady comeback this time.

After a night of frustration, one in which until then they had not sacked Brady once in 57 minutes, they had when it mattered most, forcing him to drop the ball, handing them the Super Bowl.

“They made one good play at the right time,” Brady said in his press conference, his eyes still disbelieving.

One good play at the right time.

Don’t get frustrated.

“We just had to keep faith in our rush,” Long said.

Don’t get frustrated? Philadelphia has been frustrated with the Eagles for nearly six decades without a championship. Frustrated is all anyone in green could have been on Sunday night. Frustrated is what they were certain to be when Brady stepped back to pass on that fateful play.

Only the tiny handful of men who faced the impossible odds of stopping Brady when Brady was certain to beat them, repeated that same mantra until they might have been the only people in America who believed it.

Because at some point Brandon Graham was going to twist instead of rush right at Shaq Mason and that was going to be enough to change history. One they will remember forever in Philadelphia.

Where was Philly’s pass rush?

It was there all along, remaining patient, waiting for the moment that would matter most.