Patriots will defend title against Eagles

WASHINGTON – Agence France-Presse

Defending champion New England booked a third Super Bowl trip in four seasons Jan. 21, edging Jacksonville 24-20 to reach an NFL championship showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Five-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady’s two fourth-quarter touchdown passes rallied the Patriots into Super Bowl 52 against an Eagles squad that routed Minnesota 38-7, humbling the Vikings’ top-rated defensive unit.

The Patriots boosted their record of Super Bowl appearances to 10 and could match Pittsburgh’s record six Super Bowl triumphs on Feb. 4.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Brady said. “It’s pretty amazing to be on a team that wins these kind of games. It’s so great.”

Nick Foles, who took over as Philadelphia’s quarterback last month after an injury to Carson Wentz, completed 26-of-33 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns as the underdog Eagles humiliated the visitors.

“This moment, it’s unbelievable. It’s humbling,” Foles said. “The team was amazing. I’m a little speechless. It’s amazing soaking this all in. We all believe in each other. Everyone was against us. We came in here and came out with an amazing victory.”

It will be a rematch of Super Bowl 39 from 2005, when Brady threw two touchdown passes and the Patriots won 24-21 for their third title in four seasons, equal to the same run they could complete in two weeks.

The Eagles, whose two Super Bowl defeats also include 1981, last won an NFL title in 1960 before the Super Bowl era began.

Brady, who needed stitches for a right hand injury suffered last week in practice, lost his favorite target, tight end Rob Gronkowski, to a second-quarter concussion. But the 40-year-old quarterback completed 26-of-38 passes for 290 yards, 138 of them in the fourth quarter.