14 numbers to explain the Eagles’ Super Bowl win over the Patriots

The Eagles and Patriots played a unique Super Bowl on Sunday, culminating in a 41-33 Philadelphia win and that franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy. You probably watched the game, but whether you did or didn’t, here are the numbers that best tell its story.

Yards of total offense between the two teams: 538 for Philadelphia, 613 for New England. Raw yardage isn’t as instructive as averages per play (7.6 for the Eagles and 8.5 for the Patriots), but the total figure is the best illustration of the kind of track meet this Super Bowl was. It was the highest total yardage in a Super Bowl ever by a margin of more than 200 yards. This looked like a Big 12 game at times.

Punt: a 41-yarder by the Eagles’ Donnie Jones.

Sack in the entire game, which doubled as a pivotal fumble recovery by the Eagles late in the fourth quarter. Brandon Graham stripped Tom Brady to set up a Derek Barnett recovery that didn’t quite seal the game, but got the Eagles closer to doing just that.

Eagles’ possessions (out of 10) that didn’t end in points of some kind.

Patriots’ possessions (out of 11) that didn’t end in points, although two of those were because of half endings and another because of a missed 26-yard field goal. There was almost nothing in the way of real defensive stops, all night long.

Defensive snaps for Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, the hero of Super Bowl 49 and the starter at left cornerback in all but one Patriots’ game all season. Butler later said the Patriots gave up on him and sounded devastated at not playing more.

Extra-point or two-point conversion attempts that failed. The only time either defense could stop anyone was immediately after giving up a touchdown.

Yards per attempt for Eagles quarterback Nick Foles. For reference, the league leader in the NFL this year was Drew Brees at 8.1.

The same figure for Brady, who totaled 505 yards and really did put together one of the best Super Bowl passing performances ever. He was marvelous, even in defeat and even on a night when the ball never quite looked like it was leaving his hand right.

Targets for Rob Gronkowski, on which the all-world tight end made nine catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Gronk was equally incredible in a losing effort.

Player in the entire game (LeGarrette Blount) who exceeded nine rushing attempts. Both teams ran for better than 5 yards per carry, but they did it by committee. The Eagles used three running backs regularly (Blount, Jay Ajayi, and Corey Clement), while the Patriots split opportunities between James White, Dion Lewis, and Rex Burkhead.

Receiving yards for Clement. He had 123 in 16 regular season games and another 39 in the Eagles’ first two playoff games. Sports are hilarious sometimes.

The Eagles’ third-down success rate. That’s 63 percent, up from a 42 percent success rate during the regular season and 59 percent in two playoff games.

Super Bowl victories for Philadelphia, which is definitely more than zero.