[55] In addition to the concert series, Super Bowl Live featured a 200-foot (61 m) American Birkebeiner International Bridge on Nicollet Mall to showcase cross-country skiing, skijoring, fat-tire bicycle racing,[12] and snow tubing demonstrations. [74] Carnival organizers built a large ice palace to coincide with the Super Bowl festivities, as with Super Bowl XXVI in 1992. [43] Twelve of the previous 13 Super Bowls had been won by teams wearing white jerseys. The Patriots responded by advancing the ball to the Philadelphia 11-yard line on their next drive, which was set up by a 50-yard completion from Brady to Danny Amendola, where the quarter ended. Phi. Foles also made two critical completions on third down plays, hitting Alshon Jeffery for a 17-yard gain on third-and-4, and later found Torrey Smith for a 15-yard completion on third-and-12. [39] They then soundly defeated the Minnesota Vikings 38–7 in the NFC Championship Game.
The Philadelphia Eagles became just the second team to win a Super Bowl rematch after losing the first Super Bowl meeting (having lost to New England in Super Bowl XXXIX), and the first since the Washington Redskins defeated the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII (the Miami Dolphins defeated the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII). 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. [7][135][136] Timberlake performed in two previous Super Bowls: Super Bowl XXXV in 2001 as a member of NSYNC, and Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 with Janet Jackson. 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. Their sole loss in the latter part of the season came in Week 14 to the Miami Dolphins, a division rival, though they were without star tight end Rob Gronkowski due to a one-game suspension for an unnecessary roughness call the prior week. [128][129] Pink spit out a throat lozenge shortly before singing the anthem, later verified after many commentators thought she had spit out a piece of gum. 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[14] after leading his team to an 11–2 start.
[47], To increase security around U.S. Bank Stadium, the stadium's light rail station was shut down for 48 hours before the game,[48] and a nearby homeless shelter was temporarily moved beyond the security perimeter. [65] Ellie Goulding's appearance with Kygo was cancelled at the same time. Two plays later, on third-and-3, Foles completed a short pass to running back Corey Clement, who took off for a 55-yard gain to the New England 8-yard line.
[15] The game was settled after the Eagles converted a fumble recovery deep within Patriots territory 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. [101], Dan Patrick and Liam McHugh served as the lead hosts for NBC's pre-game coverage. [75] Events in Saint Paul also included an extreme sports demonstration, a "giant slide", and a block party. Average TV viewership for the halftime show, headlined by Justin Timberlake, was 106.6 million American television viewers, 9 percent less than the previous year. [15] The game set many other Super Bowl records as well, including fewest punts from both teams (one), most yards gained by a team (613 for New England) and most points scored by a losing team (33). Site Last Updated: Saturday, October 17, … It goes on to criticize car ads", "Jimmy Fallon to host 'Tonight Show' live from Minneapolis after Super Bowl", "Fallon unveils guests for Mpls. [6][133] World War II hero Hershel W. Williams was the honorary captain and had the honors of flipping the coin.
[30], 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. [36], In the playoffs, the Patriots earned a first-round bye and home-field advantage due to their status as the AFC's first overall seed. [60] The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community's Mystic Lake Casino hosted Gwen Stefani,[64] the Chainsmokers, Florida Georgia Line, and Kygo. [102] Mike Tirico, who replaced the retiring Bob Costas in 2017 as NBC's lead studio host for both the NFL and the Olympic Games, did not participate in coverage of Super Bowl LII due to his commitments to prepare for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea (which opened on the Friday following the game). Phi. [118][119], In a surprise move, Netflix used its advertising time to announce that The Cloverfield Paradox — the third film in the Cloverfield series — would be available for streaming on the service immediately after the game, potentially undercutting viewership of the lucrative post-game slot on NBC.[120]. Metro Transit ran shuttle buses between light rail stations, as well as regular bus service was moved for several weeks due to street closures. The commercial also features Nirvana's song "All Apologies" played as a lullaby. [33] In his only regular season game with the Patriots, Harrison recorded two sacks. [139][140], The New England Patriots won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Rob Gronkowski 4 pass from Tom Brady (Stephen Gostkowski Kick) 32. They went for it on fourth down, and a pass intended for tight end Rob Gronkowski fell incomplete, giving the Eagles the ball on their own 35-yard line on a turnover-on-downs. 1 – Dates in the list denote the season, not necessarily the calendar year in which the championship game was played. Despite the Vikings scoring on their opening drive, the Eagles' defense held them to three punts, two turnovers on downs, two interceptions, and one lost fumble in their remaining drives of the game.
A failed two-point conversion left the Eagles with a 38–33 lead. [97], Online streams of the game were provided by NBC. The drive was controlled by the arm of Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, who completed 6 of 9 passes to five different receivers for 61 yards, with a few short runs by LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi mixed in. [54] This ten-day free[12] 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. Surprising analysts, Foles was able to lead the team to victory in that game, as well as the next two. We are more alike than different. Eagles: 41 Patriots: 33. [96] Each participating team's flagship station (the Patriots Radio Network's WBZ-FM/Boston, and the Eagles Radio Network's WIP-FM/Philadelphia, along with WEMG/Camden, New Jersey for Spanish play-by-play) carried the game with local announcers.
[41] Bill Belichick, the Patriots' head coach in that contest, also remained in that position. [71] "Taste of the NFL" is a fundraiser for food banks and was held in Saint Paul. The previous season's top wide receiver Julian Edelman went down in the preseason with a season-ending injury. It was available on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app for mobile devices, tablets, connected-TV devices, and NBC.com without any required login.
[85][86], The slogan Bold North was developed by the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee to promote Super Bowl LII and its surrounding festivities. Subscribe to our Free Newsletter, This Month in Sports ReferenceFind out when we add a feature or make a change. Finally, he finished the possession with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Clement on third-and-6. Pink performed "The Star-Spangled Banner",[5] while Leslie Odom Jr. sang "America the Beautiful". The Eagles followed with an 8-play, 51-yard drive featuring a 24-yard completion from Foles to Agholor on the first play. [104], Nielsen reported a 47.4/70% overnight rating in metered markets, peaking at 52.2/74 during the fourth quarter. [34], During the regular season, New England's offense led the league in yards gained (6,307) and ranked second in points scored (458).
The NFL unveiled the official logo for Super Bowl LII (a cerulean-colored version of a standardized design) prior to Super Bowl LI, and the official branding elements and secondary logo in October 2017—featuring blue and purple aurora motifs. [53], The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee presented Super Bowl Live on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. He also caught 32 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns and added 570 yards and another touchdown returning kickoffs. 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. After nine plays (one of them a 13-yard catch by Amendola on fourth-and-10), Brady reached the 49-yard line, and with only nine seconds remaining, he threw a Hail Mary pass to the end zone as time expired. [79] The Minneapolis Institute of Art had a free 20-by-40-foot (6.1 m × 12.2 m), 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) ice maze. [87][88][89], NBC broadcast Super Bowl LII, as part of an annual cycle between the three main broadcast television partners of the NFL.