Everything is Obvious After the Fact

I recently saw Neil deGrasse Tyson on television talking about the multiverse. According to Tyson, there's a universe where the Patriots won Super Bowl LII.

So, how do I get there?

Let's cut to the chase. This wasn't a freak play that wound up taking down New England; I guess you could say it was a whole bunch of freak plays but let's keep it simple. The Eagles made more plays than the Patriots. They won. Sometimes it's just that simple.

If you'd told me Tom Brady would pass for 505 yards and 3 TDs with 0 INT before the game I think I would've felt pretty good. If you'd told me the Patriots would score 33 points before the game I think I would've felt pretty good. If you told me New England would punt exactly 0 times before the game I would've felt really good.  But none of that wasn't enough as it turned out as Nick Foles led the Eagles to 41 points while passing for 373 yards and 3 TD passes of his own. The Eagles did exactly what they needed to. They ran the ball effectively, won on special teams, and did not wear down in the 4th quarter, getting the only sack of Brady (and fumble) they needed when they needed it most. A perfect game? Probably not but Philadelphia was damned close.

As Brady himself said, "Losing sucks." This one doesn't hurt as much as the Helmet Catch but let's be honest; watching your pigskin heroes lose always hurts. As in, I'm not sure I can ever watch another football game. The next season of the NFL is kind of like the next season of "The Walking Dead" for me. The season ends and I'm mentally and spiritually exhausted. I know the next season will be long and brutal with tragic losses along the way and I wonder if I can do it...

Changes will be coming in Foxborough and not just with the coaching staff. The Eagles controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. When the Patriots needed a stop on defense they couldn't get it. When they needed to keep Brady clean in the pocket they couldn't do it.

There will be the "what if's" and the "why's" over the next week or two but I don't know if Brandin Cooks doesn't get knocked out of that parallel universe game or knowing what the reasons were for Malcolm Butler getting benched really matter as much as what happens next with the coaching staff and the draft and whether or not Gisele talks Tom into retiring this time.

For now, I'll just have to go with this… No Dont'a Hightower, no Julian Edelman, no Marcus Cannon, an historically bad Patriots defense, a freak thumb injury and somehow the Patriots still got to the Super Bowl and had a chance to win. Admit it, haters. You were afraid Rob Gronkowski was going to come down with that Hail Mary pass at the end, weren't you?

Maybe in that parallel universe he does.