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.

【紅霞譯文】

        我之所以提筆書寫這篇隨感無外乎藉費城大遊行之際本人翹課在家，千萬別把我當成混子，其實北賓州學區“准允”二月八日當天所有缺席的學生，假如你對之滿頭霧水，那麼你大概不住在北美洲。

        二〇一八年二月四日，歷史在美國明尼蘇達州明尼阿波利斯市誕生，國聯冠軍費城老鷹隊正跟愛國者隊四分衛湯姆·布雷迪及其有史以來最牛教頭比爾·貝利奇克帶領下的橄欖球王朝激烈酣戰，奮力爭奪首個超級碗，這是一場無名小卒與蓋世豪傑之間的較量，坦率地說，大家心照不宣，美聯冠軍新英格蘭愛國者隊是由一群名人堂教練和新獲最佳球員的隊伍組成，老鷹隊展翅翱翔……沒錯，就像身無羽翼的卡森·溫茲（四分衛）振臂高飛。

        的確，一支球隊已有最佳球員助陣；另一支球隊不乏角逐最佳球員的明星，後因膝蓋受傷不得不叫名不見經傳的四分衛獨當一面，好在老鷹隊主要推行防守打法，藉助堅守防線來逼迫愛國者隊失誤，以此乘勝追擊越戰越勇，氣勢可嘉。儘管沒人看好老鷹隊進攻，但可以肯定的是雙方在防守上各有千秋……對不？

        你知道嗎？比賽開球時，新英格蘭隊稍微占據優勢。然而，隨着比賽繼續進行，談論焦點便從防守轉向進攻，尼克·福爾斯（老鷹隊四分衛）和湯姆·布雷迪（愛國者隊四分衛）迅速向對方發出挑戰，爭相比試誰能創下更多統計記錄，不久，各項成績以前所未有的速度閃現在記分牌上。愛國者隊和老鷹隊是迄今為止所有超級碗上半場跑陣最遠的兩支球隊，球迷喜歡這種打法，大家的目光跟着雙方四擋進攻直至交出控球權一條條嗎線移動，上半場得分不高的唯一原因就在於射門失敗，球踢得左右不當。

        看完比賽你反倒不能怪罪防守。一方面，湯姆·布雷迪精確地打亂老鷹隊防線；另一方面，老鷹隊主教練道格·佩德森也許做出了這輩子最明智、最縝密的決定，從所謂戲劇性達陣射門得分到其它所有第四檔進攻部署，他比貝利奇克技高一籌，我明白教練毫無資格參選超級碗最佳球員，但為啥不成呢？看到佩德森所面臨的困境嗎？一位替補四分衛、橫受傷病困擾的進攻線、苦苦掙扎的後衛核心……贏球絕非輕而易舉，但憑藉果敢指揮並幾度打破僵持不下的局面，佩德森抓住有利時機，好不容易走向最後勝利。

        橄欖球有句老話：“攻可賣座防能奪標”，一語道破防守不易，你需要把好每道關口，而進攻只要依靠幾個主力就成。是的，當進攻幾近無懈可擊，防守怎樣才算到位？答案出自第五十二屆超級碗，無論尼克·福爾斯多有能耐，畢竟無法抵禦以湯姆·布雷迪為首的進攻。

        實質上，這場比賽可簡單歸納成最後一句話：不是老鷹隊防守奏效就是湯姆·布雷迪繼續躍武揚威。在老鷹隊達陣與愛國者隊掌握控球權之間隊員有幾分鐘休息時間，大約卅秒後，布蘭登·格雷厄姆（老鷹隊防守端鋒）四分衛擒殺把愛國者隊置於死地，雖然雙方都沒把防守當回事，但是老鷹隊終因防守搶占上風而贏得這場比賽。

Crosslink(相關博文):

2017年第五十一屆超級碗美式橄欖球聯盟總決賽(2017 Super Bowl LI)