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Nick Foles' 4th-down TD catch on trick play personifies Eagles' aggressive gameplan

The Philadelphia Eagles apparently got the memo to keep the pedal down against the New England Patriots.

With New England having famously taken advantage of questionable game plans to rally against the Atlanta Falcons in last year’s Super Bowl and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC championship, much of the talk heading into Sunday’s game has been around how aggressive Philadelphia would be.

This trick play on fourth down late in the first half provided a pretty clear answer.

It was a play that completely caught the Patriots off guard despite New England running a similar play for Tom Brady early in the game that didn’t go quite as well. Nobody bothered to cover quarterback Nick Foles when he shifted right of center pre-snap and found himself wide open in the end zone for an easy grab from tight end Trey Burton to take a 22-12 halftime lead.

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While much of Twitter and the broadcast team doubted if the Eagles were actually going for it on fourth down, Eagles coach Doug Pederson told NBC’s Michele Tafoya that it was a no-brainer.

We had just gone all the way down the field, and I wasn’t going to stop,” Pederson said. “I wasn’t going to let our offense be stopped on the one-yard-line. It’s a play we’ve been working the last couple of weeks, and our guys executed it brilliantly.”

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles catches a pass for a touchdown against the New England Patriots during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 52 football game Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles catches a pass for a touchdown against the New England Patriots during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 52 football game Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)