Top 5 Reasons to Feel Positive about Super Bowl LII
By Rahul Kothari
February 5, 2018
Last night's game was incredibly exciting and entertaining. So whether your team won or lost here are our top 5 reasons to be positive about Super Bowl LII:
#5 - It Was Indoors
The temperature outside U.S. Bank Stadium was a wintery 2 degrees at kickoff, with wind-chill down to 25 below. That easily made it the coldest Super Bowl in history. The previous record - Super Bowl XVI, January 24, 1982, at Michigan’s Pontiac Silverdome had an average temperature of 12°F.
#4 - It Was Incredibly Entertaining
JT's half-time show (including a tribute to Prince) and the commercials were definitely entertaining, our favorites were:
Alexa - https://youtu.be/J6-8DQALGt4
But, the game somehow outdid even that high bar. It was action packed (including clutch and trick plays), high scoring and close all the way through and right until the very end. The referees let the teams play and there were very few penalties (7 total for a meager 40 yards). Here are a few numbers that further highlight what we saw:
· 1,151 - Yards of total offense between the two teams: 538 for Philadelphia, 613 for New England. It was the highest total yardage in a Super Bowl ever by a margin of more than 200 yards.
· 1 - Punt total between the two teams
· 10-of-16 - The Eagles’ third-down success rate. That’s 63 percent, up from a 42 percent success rate during the regular season and 59 percent in two playoff games.
#3 - It Was Won Not Lost
On top of the other stats there were only two turnovers in the entire game and there was only one sack. Tom Brady's 505 yards were the most ever by a quarterback in the Super Bowl, surpassing his own record set in last year's Super Bowl of 467 yards. The passing record was one of 29 records that the two teams broke (17) or tied (12) on Sunday (for the full list visit
#2 - Everybody Loves an Underdog
A virtual map based on geotagged Twitter data immediately after the Conference Championship games showed that the entire U.S. was hoping for an Eagles upset over Tom Brady and company — aside from the New England states (Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire), and bizarrely, North Dakota. So I guess the country was more or less united and happy with last night's outcome.
#1 - Exemplary Sportsmanship
The New England Patriots showed true sportsmanship in defeat and The Philadelphia Eagles showed true humility in victory. You could feel the mutual respect that each team has for each other. Here are a few quotes after the game that showcased it:
· From Tom Brady: the “Eagles played a better game today they deserved to win.”
· From Nick Foles: "the Patriots are one of the greatest franchises of all time, Tom's one of the greatest quarterbacks, Belichick's one of the greatest coaches."
· From Bill Belichick: "it wasn't quite enough against a good team like Philadelphia." "Give them credit they did a great job."
· From Doug Petersen to his team: "This is a team game. An individual can make a difference but a team makes a miracle." "You did it against a fine football team, when you're asked you're complimentary."
