Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
With 38 seconds left in the first half of Super Bowl LII, the Philadelphia Eagles were looking at a fourth-and-goal from the New England one-yard line. Philly opted to go for it, and during the timeout, NFL films cameras picked up Nick Foles going over to Doug Pederson and asking him if they could run a specific play: "Philly Special." Pederson thinks about it for, like, one second and says "yeah, let's do it."The rest is history: Corey Clement hands the ball to tight end Trey Burton who then lofts a ball to a wide open Foles alone in the end zone for an easy touchdown.
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It took a decent pair of stones to go for it on fourth down, knowing that he would be instantly criticized for leaving points on the table against Tom Brady and the Patriots if they didn't convert, and huge brass ones to select this specific play.According to USA Today, Pederson began designing the play in January specifically for Foles, who had recently replaced the injured Carson Wentz. They then went to work getting it down just right.
The play made Foles the only person to throw for and catch a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, and it might not have happened unless he asked to run it.Burton told USA TODAY Sports that the Eagles had run the play about twice a week in practice since it was installed, and Foles never dropped the pass. The Eagles did not practice the play this week during their training sessions at the University of Minnesota, safety Malcolm Jenkins said, but it was in the game plan the team installed a week prior at home in Philadelphia.