By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

After what seemed like 2 decades of underwhelming Super Bowl games, 3 out of the last 4 years have been anything but boring. You had New England’s win over Seattle 4 years ago.

New England’s come from behind, overtime victory over Atlanta last year. And of course, Philadelphia winning this year’s Super Bowl for every football fan not from the Boston area. So, here are a few observations from this year’s game.

1- I now have a huge man crush on Philadelphia’s head coach, Doug Pederson. His play calling and willingness to have faith in his offense to convert on some of those fourth downs is something that as a Carolina Panthers fan, feels foreign to me.

I just automatically assumed you were required to punt on 4th down, no matter the situation. Plus, Pederson makes me feel like my approach to Madden 2018- never punting, ever- means I too could be a NFL head coach.

Also, what he and Offensive Coordinator, Frank Reich, did in adjusting their offensive scheme to mesh with Nick Foles’ strength and comfort level, may be one of the more impressive coaching jobs I’ve seen in years.

2- Now that Nick Foles is a Super Bowl MVP- just marinate on that for a minute- what team in desperate need of a quarterback mortgages their future to tries and trade for him?

Also, will we see a run on teams overpaying for backup quarterbacks, they previously wouldn’t have thought twice about? If you thought the backup quarterback was the popular player among fans before this Super Bowl, I have a feeling you haven’t seen anything yet.

3- There are a plethora of reasons to be giddy watching Tom Brady and the Patriots lose, much like Nick Cage seems to take pride in making “Ghost Rider” movies, or really any movie where there’s no plot and a lot of things blow up, for that matter.

Regardless of how deep seeded that dislike is for both Patriots and/or their quarterback, you should be impressed with Brady.

I’m 37 years old and anytime I run a 5k in under 30 minutes I feel like the local news channel should be producing a segment on just how awesome and in shape I am.

Tom Brady is 3 years older than I am, and he just threw for over 500 yards in the Super Bowl!

I still felt like New England was somehow going to pull out a win when they were inside their own 10, with 58 seconds left because Tom Brady was the quarterback.

4- While New England’s run of 8 Super Bowl appearances in 17 years is incredible, what may be even more impressive is that every single one of them has been a good game. Upset win against the Rams in ‘01; game winning field goals against Panthers and Eagles in ‘03, ‘04; goal line interception in ‘15 against Seattle; last year’s overtime win versus Atlanta.

Throw in their two close losses to the Giants and this year’s game, and basically every Super Bowl New England has participated in has come down the wire. Look, I despise the Patriots as much as anyone whose last name isn’t Damon or Affleck, but they do put on a good show.

So, if you want the early odds on who will be back in the Super Bowl next year, my guess is New England and whatever NFC team has the best backup quarterback. I mean, the NFL is a copycat league, right?