2018-02-08

【Aiden in English】

        The only reason I’m writing this essay is that I decided to take a day off from school for the Philly Parade. Don’t say I’m a bad student. The North Penn School District accepts all absences as ‘excused’ for February 8^th. If you don’t know why you probably don’t live in North America.

        On February 4^th, 2018, history was made in Minneapolis, MN. The Philadelphia Eagles of the NFC champion, chasing their first-ever Super Bowl, faced off against a dynasty in the form of Tom Brady and fellow G.O.A.T. Bill Bellicheck. Underdogs versus masters of the game. To be honest, I don’t think anyone really expected much of a game. The New England Patriots, the AFC winner, were marching into the game with a Hall-of-Fame set of coaches and the recently crowned MVP. The Eagles were flying high…well, as high as you can get without a wing in Carson Wentz.

        So, one team entered with an MVP. The other had a potential MVP, then got knee injured, and now had to be replaced by a quarterback whose name flashes off his mediocrity. However, the Eagle’s team was mainly propelled by its stellar defense. A strong, bend but not break defense that forced mistakes and fed on momentum, quite a force to be reckoned with. Everyone had his doubt on the Eagle’s offense, but it was certain that the defense for both teams would show up… right?

        What do you know? At kickoff, New England was given a slight advantage to win. However, as the game progressed, the storyline shifted from defense to offense. Nick Foles and Tom Brady quickly challenged each other a personal one on one to see who could fill up more stats than the other. Soon, points were being pushed onto the scoreboard at an unprecedented pace. The two teams put up more yards in the first half than any other Superbowl in history. The fans loved it. We ate up every single yard as we watched two defenses lay down and pretty much hand out real estate. The only reason the game didn’t feature higher scoring in the first half was because of missed field goals and kicks left and right.

        You can’t go through the game and say that defense wasn’t playing though. On one hand, you had Tom Brady surgically picking apart the Eagle’s defense. On the other, Doug Pederson pulled off maybe the greatest, most well-rounded play-calling game of his life. From calling a trick play on the fourth and goal, to pretty much every other fourth-down call, Pederson outcoached Belicheck by a mile. I understand that coaches don’t win Super Bowl MVP’s, but why don’t they? Look at what Pederson worked with? A backup quarterback, an injury-plagued offensive line, and struggling linebacker core… Not the easiest game to win. But through gutsy calls and rolling the dice multiple times, Pederson pushed the boundaries of fortune just enough to win the game at the end.

        A good old football saying is that offense sells tickets, defense wins championships. The catch to this phrase is those good defenses are hard to make. You need every position to be stellar, while the offense just needs some key play-makers. Well, when the offense is nearly flawless, what happens to defenses? The answer: Superbowl 52. And as well as Nick Foles was playing, he couldn’t possibly keep up with a Tom Brady-led offense. 

        Essentially, the game whittled down to a simple ultimatum: either the Eagles defense would make a play, or Tom Brady would continue to put up points at ease. There were a few minutes of rest for the players in between the previous Eagle’s touchdown and Patriot’s possession, which ended in around thirty seconds after Brandon Graham strip-sacked Tom Brady for pretty much the nail in the coffin. Although both sides are pretty much laid-down on defense, the Eagles won the match because of the first nice defensive play of the game.

【红霞译文】

        我之所以提笔书写这篇随感无外乎藉费城大游行之际本人翘课在家，千万别把我当成混子，其实北宾州学区“准允”二月八日当天所有缺席的学生，假如你对之满头雾水，那么你大概不住在北美洲。

        二〇一八年二月四日，历史在美国明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯市诞生，国联冠军费城老鹰队正跟爱国者队四分卫汤姆·布雷迪及其有史以来最牛教头比尔·贝利奇克带领下的橄榄球王朝激烈酣战，奋力争夺首个超级碗，这是一场无名小卒与盖世豪杰之间的较量，坦率地说，大家心照不宣，美联冠军新英格兰爱国者队是由一群名人堂教练和新获最佳球员的队伍组成，老鹰队展翅翱翔……没错，就像身无羽翼的卡森·温兹（四分卫）振臂高飞。

        的确，一支球队已有最佳球员助阵；另一支球队不乏角逐最佳球员的明星，后因膝盖受伤不得不叫名不见经传的四分卫独当一面，好在老鹰队主要推行防守打法，借助坚守防线来逼迫爱国者队失误，以此乘胜追击越战越勇，气势可嘉。尽管没人看好老鹰队进攻，但可以肯定的是双方在防守上各有千秋……对不？

        你知道吗？比赛开球时，新英格兰队稍微占据优势。然而，随着比赛继续进行，谈论焦点便从防守转向进攻，尼克·福尔斯（老鹰队四分卫）和汤姆·布雷迪（爱国者队四分卫）迅速向对方发出挑战，争相比试谁能创下更多统计记录，不久，各项成绩以前所未有的速度闪现在记分牌上。爱国者队和老鹰队是迄今为止所有超级碗上半场跑阵最远的两支球队，球迷喜欢这种打法，大家的目光跟着双方四挡进攻直至交出控球权一条条吗线移动，上半场得分不高的唯一原因就在于射门失败，球踢得左右不当。

        看完比赛你反倒不能怪罪防守。一方面，汤姆·布雷迪精确地打乱老鹰队防线；另一方面，老鹰队主教练道格·佩德森也许做出了这辈子最明智、最缜密的决定，从所谓戏剧性达阵射门得分到其它所有第四档进攻部署，他比贝利奇克技高一筹，我明白教练毫无资格参选超级碗最佳球员，但为啥不成呢？看到佩德森所面临的困境吗？一位替补四分卫、横受伤病困扰的进攻线、苦苦挣扎的后卫核心……赢球绝非轻而易举，但凭借果敢指挥并几度打破僵持不下的局面，佩德森抓住有利时机，好不容易走向最后胜利。

        橄榄球有句老话：“攻可卖座防能夺标”，一语道破防守不易，你需要把好每道关口，而进攻只要依靠几个主力就成。是的，当进攻几近无懈可击，防守怎样才算到位？答案出自第五十二届超级碗，无论尼克·福尔斯多有能耐，毕竟无法抵御以汤姆·布雷迪为首的进攻。

        实质上，这场比赛可简单归纳成最后一句话：不是老鹰队防守奏效就是汤姆·布雷迪继续跃武扬威。在老鹰队达阵与爱国者队掌握控球权之间队员有几分钟休息时间，大约卅秒后，布兰登·格雷厄姆（老鹰队防守端锋）四分卫擒杀把爱国者队置于死地，虽然双方都没把防守当回事，但是老鹰队终因防守抢占上风而赢得这场比赛。

Crosslink(相关博文):

2017年第五十一届超级碗美式橄榄球联盟总决赛(2017 Super Bowl LI)