Super Bowl LII


Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League for the 2017 season. As a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX from 13 years earlier, the game was between the National Football Conference champion Philadelphia Eagles and the American Football Conference and defending Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots. The underdog Eagles defeated the Patriots with a score of 41–33 to win their first Super Bowl and their first NFL title since 1960, making the NFC East the first and currently only division where every team has won a Super Bowl. The game was played on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was the second time that a Super Bowl was played in Minneapolis, the northernmost city to ever host the event, after Super Bowl XXVI at the Metrodome during the 1991 season. It was also the sixth and most recent Super Bowl held in a cold-weather city, although the stadium is indoors.
New England finished the regular season with an AFC-best 13–3 record, then extended their record Super Bowl appearances to ten, their third in four years, and their eighth under the leadership of head coach Bill Belichick and MVP quarterback Tom Brady. Philadelphia also finished the regular season with an NFC-best 13–3 record but entered the playoffs as underdogs after starting quarterback Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending injury late in the regular season; prior to his injury, Wentz was the media and fan favorite to win MVP after leading his team to an 11–2 start. Backup quarterback Nick Foles was the Eagles' starting quarterback for the rest of the season. With Foles, the Eagles advanced to their third Super Bowl appearance, having previously lost to the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XV and to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.
Several records were set during Super Bowl LII, including most yards gained in any NFL game by both teams combined and fewest punts from both teams in a Super Bowl ; the Patriots also set the record for the fewest punts by a team in a Super Bowl. The game was settled after the Eagles converted a fumble recovery deep within Patriots territory leading to a field goal with 1:05 remaining to extend their lead to eight points, and Brady's Hail Mary pass fell incomplete as time expired. Foles, who completed 28 of 43 pass attempts for 373 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, and also caught a one-yard touchdown pass on a trick play, was named Super Bowl MVP.
The Patriots' loss made them the fifth defending Super Bowl champions to lose the next year's title game, after the 1978 Dallas Cowboys, the 1983 Washington Redskins, the 1997 Green Bay Packers, and the 2014 Seattle Seahawks. They were later joined by the 2020 and 2024 Kansas City Chiefs.
Retrospectively, Super Bowl LII is considered among the greatest ever played, with the Eagles' performance being regarded as highly influential in professional football in the years that followed. Foles' touchdown catch, nicknamed the "Philly Special", is often remembered as one of the greatest play-calls of all time. However, the broadcast's viewership on NBC had the smallest Super Bowl audience since Super Bowl XLIII nine years earlier at 103.4 million viewers, while the halftime show, headlined by Justin Timberlake, was 106.6 million American television viewers, 9% less than the previous year's. Viewership for both would continue to shrink the following year.

Background

Host-city selection

On October 8, 2013, the league announced that three venues were vying to host Super Bowl LII:
On May 20, 2014, the league's owners picked Minneapolis at their meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Associated events

The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee presented Super Bowl Live on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. This ten-day free festival and concert series featured Sheila E., The Revolution, Morris Day and The Time, and The New Power Generation, musicians from Minnesota who collaborated with Prince, a Minneapolis native. Produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Super Bowl Live also included performances by Idina Menzel, Soul Asylum, the Suburbs, Bob Mould, Sounds of Blackness, Dessa, VocalEssence, Mint Condition, and the Jets. In addition to the concert series, Super Bowl Live featured a American Birkebeiner International Bridge on Nicollet Mall to showcase cross-country skiing, skijoring, fat-tire bicycle racing, and snow tubing demonstrations. There was also a snowmobile stunt show on February 3.
The NFL presented the Super Bowl Experience at the Minneapolis Convention Center from January 27 to February 3 with an entrance fee. Kelly Clarkson performed at the Minneapolis Armory and a U.S. Bank Stadium lounge on the day of the Super Bowl.
The Minneapolis Armory also hosted Jennifer Lopez, Imagine Dragons, and Pink concerts close to U.S. Bank Stadium. Pink also performed the national anthem before the Super Bowl. Halftime performer Justin Timberlake held a ticketed "listening session" of his newest album at Prince's Paisley Park. Dave Matthews Band performed at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community's Mystic Lake Casino hosted Gwen Stefani, the Chainsmokers, Florida Georgia Line, and Kygo. Planners originally scheduled a traveling nightclub for 9500 people, but cancelled, moving its concerts into the main casino. Ellie Goulding's appearance with Kygo was cancelled at the same time. The Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, Minnesota, has the second-largest hotel in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, and Prior Lake hosted Super Bowl-week events including winter activities, a hotdish competition, and fundraisers.
Other events were held at the Mall of America, Saint Paul's RiverCentre and Xcel Energy Center, the Minnesota Vikings' Winter Park location in Eden Prairie, and the University of Minnesota. "Taste of the NFL" is a fundraiser for food banks and was held in Saint Paul. Minneapolis also offered a temporary zip-line across the Mississippi River near downtown. The Luminary Loppet around Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis featured fire dancing, an ice pyramid, and luminary candles at night.
The 2018 Saint Paul Winter Carnival took place leading up to, during and after the Super Bowl. Carnival organizers built a large ice palace to coincide with the Super Bowl festivities, as with Super Bowl XXVI in 1992. The ice palace was planned, cancelled for lack of funds, then re-announced with sponsors. Events in Saint Paul also included an extreme sports demonstration, a "giant slide", and a block party. Officials in the capital city hoped to attract Minneapolis Super Bowl visitors. The Minneapolis Institute of Art had a free, ice maze.
The Great Northern was a winter festival in the Twin Cities from January 25 to February 4 that included the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, an ice bar, and an "urban ski competition".
ESPN broadcast its studio programming from the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis, while Golf Channel aired two live episodes of David Feherty's eponymous interview show from the State Theatre.
Native American communities of Minnesota performed nightly drum ceremonies. Various drumlines from around the state performed at different locations throughout the day.

Marketing

The slogan Bold North was developed by the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee to promote Super Bowl LII and its surrounding festivities. The slogan was intended to represent an embrace of the region's climate as part of its identity, and was used on merchandise and by the host committee's official sponsors. The NFL unveiled the official logo for Super Bowl LII prior to Super Bowl LI, and the official branding elements and secondary logo in October 2017—featuring blue and purple aurora motifs.

Pre-game Food Rivalry

In mid-January 2018, a food rivalry between Philadelphia and Boston emerged. Dottie's Donuts, a local Philadelphia-based donut shop, decided to stop selling Boston Cream donuts until after the Super Bowl as a way to send a message to New England fans. Quinton Johnson, one of the shop's employees, said "We are not doing Boston Cream right now until after the Super Bowl." He added that the shop was getting prank calls from Patriots fans with Boston accents. Charles River Esplanade, a well-known park in Boston, immediately retaliated by banning Philadelphia cream cheese, Philly cheese steaks, soft pretzels, and even Crisco into the park until after the Super Bowl. On Monday, February 5, the respective food bans in both cities were lifted.

Teams

The NFC was represented by the number-one playoff seed Philadelphia Eagles, while the AFC was represented by the number-one playoff seed New England Patriots, marking the fourth time in the previous five years that the Super Bowl had featured the top team from each conference.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles finished the regular season with a record of 13–3, the same as New England, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh, but by virtue of having a better record against common opponents than Minnesota, Philadelphia earned the NFC's top seed in the 2017–18 NFL playoffs. It was a substantial improvement for the team under second-year head coach Doug Pederson; the Eagles finished the previous season with a 7–9 record. In the 2017 season, the team scored 457 points, while giving up just 295 points.
The offense was led by Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Wentz. In just his second season, he recorded a passer rating of 101.9, throwing for 3,296 yards and 33 touchdowns, with only seven interceptions. His top target was Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz, who caught 74 passes for 824 yards and eight touchdowns. Other contributors were two receivers acquired from off-season free agency: Alshon Jeffery, who caught 57 passes for 789 yards and nine scores; and Torrey Smith, who had 36 receptions for 430 yards. Meanwhile, third-year receiver Nelson Agholor had the best season of his career, hauling in 62 passes for 768 yards and eight touchdowns, a higher total in each category than in his previous two seasons combined. The Eagles rushing attack also benefited from two recently acquired players, LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi. Blount, an off-season signing who won a Super Bowl with the Patriots, gained 776 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Ajayi, picked up by a mid-season trade with the Miami Dolphins, rushed for 873 yards and caught 24 passes for 154 yards combined with the two teams. Philadelphia also had a superb offensive line, led by two Pro Bowl selections: Tackle Lane Johnson and Guard Brandon Brooks, along with all pro center Jason Kelce.
The Eagles defense allowed the fourth-fewest yards in the league. Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox made the Pro Bowl for the third time in his career, recording 5 sacks and two fumble recoveries, and he had plenty of help around him, such as former Patriots defensive end Chris Long, who had five sacks and forced four fumbles, and defensive end Brandon Graham, who led the team with 9 sacks. Middle linebacker Nigel Bradham led the team in combined tackles with 88. The Eagles secondary featured Pro Bowl safety Malcolm Jenkins, who had 76 combined tackles and two interceptions, along with cornerback Patrick Robinson, who led the team with four interceptions.
Philadelphia had stormed to the top of the NFC by winning 10 of their first 12 games, but suffered a major setback on December 10, when Wentz went down with a season-ending ACL tear and was replaced by journeyman backup quarterback Nick Foles, who was playing for his third team in as many years and his second stint with the Eagles. After Wentz's injury, many analysts wrote off the remainder of the Eagles' season as they believed they would not recover from his loss. Surprising analysts, Foles was able to lead the team to victory in that game, as well as the next two. The Eagles rested Foles and were led by third-string quarterback Nate Sudfeld for their meaningless game against the Cowboys in Week 17, a game they lost, but in the Eagles' two playoff games, Foles threw for a combined total of 598 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, replicating the excellent performance of Wentz to carry the Eagles to the NFC title.