Eagles 41, Patriots 33: Tom Brady's comeback bid falls short in Super Bowl LII

MINNEAPOLIS — What a game (again).

The Patriots played in yet another tremendous Super Bowl, but this time fell short, as Nick Foles found Zach Ertz for a touchdown with 2:21 left to put the Eagles up 38-33. 

Tom Brady and the Patriots offense had a chance to win the game, but Brandon Graham strip-sacked Brady on the second play of the drive and the Eagles recovered. 

Jake Elliott kicked a 46-yard field goal with just over a minute to play to put them up 41-33.

New England got the ball back with just under a minute left at their own 10-yard line, but the offense couldn't do anything with it, with an incomplete Hail Mary running out the clock.

Brady finished 28-for-49 for 505 yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn't enough as the defense struggled for much of the contest.

Here are 10 quick observations from the game. (For a complete recap, click here.)

1. Give the Eagles a lot of credit. They were confident all week and it showed as they were not intimidated by the Patriots one bit. All week it was said the key to the game would be if they could put pressure on Brady, and that proved to be the difference when Graham forced the fumble.

2. The biggest difference in the second half for the Patriots offense was getting Rob Gronkowski more involved. He had one catch on five targets in the first half, but in the second half he had nine grabs and two touchdowns. One nitpick was why wasn't he more involved in the first half?

3. One of the biggest storylines in the game defensively for the Patriots was the benching of Malcolm Butler. The cornerback was jumped on the depth chart by Eric Rowe. NBC reported on the game broadcast it was a coaches decision and also showed him crying during the national anthem. "I made the decisions that give us the best chance to win," Bill Belichick said on the NBC broadcast coming out of halftime. Rowe was picked on by the Eagles defense and the unit appeared confused. It's a questionable decision to change the defense up like that for the biggest game of the year.

4. The Eagles picked on Rowe bunch and it paid off. Rowe was in coverage on Alshon Jeffrey's first touchdown and was beat on several other occasions. Philadelphia also did a good job finding the right matchups, such as Corey Clement against Jordan Richards. Also, Ertz's touchdown was with Johnson Bademosi in coverage. Give the Eagles coaching staff credit, they had a great game plan.

5. A turning point in the game was at the end of the first half. The Eagles had fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line and instead of settling for a field goal they went for it. Doug Pederson called a trick-play and tight end Trey Burton found Foles for a touchdown. This was a gutsy call, but a call needed against the Patriots.

6. The Patriots offense lost their biggest threat at wide receiver in Brandin Cooks during the first half. After a reception he tried to run with the ball in his hands and turned towards the sideline where he was laid out by safety Malcolm Jenkins. He was almost immediately ruled out by the team with a head injury. This impacted the Patriots offense as they couldn't stretch the field.

7. Chris Hogan stepped up in a big way in his absence. After struggling since he returned from a shoulder injury, Hogan finished with six catches for 128 yards. He was one of Brady's favorite targets in the second half. Danny Amendola should not go unnoticed, either. The ever-reliable receiver caught eight balls for 152 yards. He was a big factor in the contest and took several big hits as well.

8. It was a bizarre game as both teams missed extra points in the first half and the Eagles went for a two-point conversion in the first half to try and make up the points early. The first half was very strange with weird things happening and because of the Super Bowl and so many commercials, it had a weird pace.

9. What is a catch exactly? This came up in the third quarter when Clement made a catch in the back of the end zone and barely got two feet down, but there was a question of whether or not he was bobbling the ball. After a review, the ruling on the field stood. This was a bit surprising, but likely a case of there not being enough evidence to overturn.

10. This was likely Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels' last game as members of the Patriots, although it is worth noting Pro Football Talk has been pushing out since McDaniels hasn't 100 percent committed to the Colts, there's increasing chatter around the league that he could stay in New England. Certainly, if this happened it would mean he wouldn't likely ever get another head-coaching job in the league besides with the Patriots. This is something to watch in the coming days.