Arkush: Why NFL's two best teams are headed to Super Bowl LII
Whatever you may have thought or expected to happen heading into the NFL's "Championship Sunday," we are now exactly where we are supposed to be with the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles due to meet the AFC champion New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
The Eagles and Patriots were the No. 1 seeds in their conferences because they were the best teams all season.
Listen, there's a reason David only beat Goliath once, and while I'm not great with my Bible study, as near as I can tell that was about 3,000 years ago.
Patriots just too good
The NFL's David's from Jacksonville comported themselves much better than many expected, and Blake Bortles - who was supposed to be the biggest reason they couldn't win - played one of the best games of his career. Bortles was 23-of-36 for 293 yards with a touchdown and 98.5 passer rating.
The problem for the Jaguars was the guy on the other side of the field is the Greatest Of All Time, and Tom Brady was just a little bit better, finishing 26-of-38 for 290 yards, 2 TDs and a 108.4 rating.
Sure, when the Jaguars went up 20-10 to start the fourth quarter with Rob Gronkowski concussed and stuck in the locker room since the end of the first half, it appeared David had a chance. In the end, the difference was the Patriots know how to win games like this, and the Jaguars don't - yet.
I'm not buying that the Jaguars choked, folded or couldn't handle the moment - they just weren't ready.
After Jacksonville completed its 11-play, 66-yard drive to go up 20-10 with 14:52 to play, the Jaguars then managed 17 plays for 62 yards on four possessions - two of them three-and-outs. Although New England fumbled on its third play after the field goal, it then ran 22 plays for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns on four possessions, including six plays to run out the clock at the end of the game.
The Jaguars did little wrong; the Patriots were just too good.
The Eagles romp
The Philadelphia Eagles' 38-7 victory over the Vikings was different, as Minnesota was the one club that didn't show up Sunday.
After opening the game with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that was almost perfect to take a 7-0 lead, Case Keenum became the old Case Keenum, and the Vikings disappeared.
Don't take that as any slight of the Eagles, who were the reason the Vikings folded.
After punting to wrap a four-play, 17-yard drive, Philly could have wilted under the Vikings' early pressure. Instead, on the Vikings' second possession Keenum threw an awful pass to the right sideline that may have been disrupted by Chris Long's pass rush, and it was picked off for a 50-yard pick six by Patrick Robinson.
The score was 7-7, but the game was over.
The Vikings then went three-and-out, and Nick Foles led Philadelphia on a 12-play, 75-yard drive for a 14-7 lead.
The difficult reality for the Vikings is that from the final minute of the third quarter vs. New Orleans their top-ranked defense allowed 62 points over the next five quarters.
Over that same stretch, the Eagles' fourth-ranked defense allowed just 7 points, and that's why they're going to Super Bowl LII.
And because Nick Foles, who was supposed to be the reason the Eagles couldn't win, was brilliant vs. the Vikings, throwing for 352 yards, 3 TDs and a 141.4 passer rating against that supposedly impenetrable defense.
Looking ahead to SB LII
So, with no David and no home team at the Super Bowl, what do we have to look forward to now?
The Patriots will be significant favorites - as they should be - and as a result thousands of Eagles fans will show up in Minneapolis with their silly dog masks and walk around barking all weekend.
But we also clearly will have the two best teams in football in a battle that, unlike the AFC title game, either team truly could win.
And isn't that what the Super Bowl should be?
• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.