鈥?Zach Ertz went out wide in the formation in yet another
play-calling twist by Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson
Adidas
Anze Kopitar Jersey , facing one-on-one coverage from New England
safety Devin McCourty with the Patriots leading the Eagles by one point late in
the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.Ertz cut inside on a slant pattern, causing
McCourty to stumble and trail the route, and moved into perfect position to
catch the pass from Nick Foles and launch his body across the goal line with
2:21 left .The NFL’s frequently contested and often confusing
process-of-the-catch rule left some doubt for the Eagles, with a nerve-wracking
wait for the replay review to confirm the touchdown before the Eagles were
officially in the lead.There’s no mystery about this, though: Ertz has turned
himself into one of the league’s elite tight ends.“He just really had a solid
year, all the way around,” right tackle Lane Johnson said. “He really improved
on his blocking this offseason, took a lot of things to heart. Just became a
better football player, man, and caught that touchdown there at the end. I just
couldn’t be happier for him. He works his tail off.”Ertz had seven catches for
67 yards to help Foles and the Eagles outlast the Patriots 41-33 in a Super Bowl
that featured the most combined yardage gained in the history of the NFL in the
modern era.The most important of the nine times Foles threw his way was that
play that culminated with the ball popping up in the air after Ertz landed on
the green Eagles paint in the end zone.Ertz caught it on the ricochet
Customized
Jacksonville Jaguars Jerseys , but the key for the legality of the
play was going to be whether he turned himself into a runner before crossing the
plane or if he was still in the process of making the catch. The former was the
ruling.“That seemed like an eternity over there. I mean, if they overturn that,
I don’t even know what’s a catch anymore,” Ertz said.“I had three steps in the
ground. I extended for it. My back leg dragged on the ground. The city of Philly
would’ve been hot if they’d have overturned that. Luckily for our city they did
not.”With a career-high eight touchdown catches with 824 receiving yards in 14
games during the regular season, Ertz came through with the kind of performance
that he needed after a trying year for both him and the team in 2016.During a
December defeat that season in Cincinnati, Pederson said afterward that not all
of his players gave maximum effort. Ertz was caught on camera sliding through a
pair of Bengals defenders , including hard-hitting linebacker Vontaze Burfict,
during one play while quarterback Carson Wentz scrambled out of bounds.“I never
really shied away from that situation I had to endure. There were some people
that would say it was definitely just. It was tough. I love that the fans never
gave up on me,” Ertz said. “I told them at the time that they would never
question my effort again, and I’m lucky to be in this situation playing for this
city
Authentic
Blake McLaughlin Jersey , and I never take it for granted.”With Rob
Gronkowski on the other side, Ertz was automatically going to be the bridesmaid
tight end in this game , despite his emergence as one of the NFL’s best.Now Ertz
will not only have the Super Bowl ring that Gronkowski already possessed in
double, but he’ll be able to catch up in the trophy case at home. His wife,
Julie Ertz, has a World Cup championship from 2015 for the U.S. national soccer
team . They were married last March.“She’s just so happy for me,” Ertz said,
adding: “Our marriage is extremely strong even though we’re pulled in 1,000
different directions.” Filip Forsberg came up big for the Nashville Predators in
his return after sitting out a game.
Forsberg had two goals and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory
against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night. He was held out of the previous
night’s lopsided loss to Buffalo for maintenance purposes.
”It’s a big win and a good test for us going up against one of the best teams
in the league,” Forsberg said. ”This is the way it’s going to be in the
playoffs Titans Game Jerseys ,
especially on the road, so it was good.”
Craig Smith and Ryan Johansen also scored to help Nashville move closer to
securing the first division title in franchise history, with the Predators’
magic number to clinch the Central at two points.
”I think the guys played smart and that’s all on them,” Nashville coach Peter
Laviolette said. ”They had a meeting. They weren’t happy with (Saturday’s loss)
and they straightened it out. They played a smart, hard game, especially with
the turnaround.”
Tampa Bay, which went 0 for 5 on the power play, played the final two periods
without captain Steven Stamkos, who left the game with an undisclosed lower-body
injury. Coach Jon Cooper did not have an update on Stamkos after the game.
Ondrej Palat scored while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 21 shots for the
Lightning, who have lost four of five to fall two points behind the Boston
Bruins for the top spot in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
”We don’t like to lose games Terrelle
Pryor Sr. Jersey Elite , that’s bottom line,” Tampa Bay defenseman
Victor Hedman said. ”We want to win every game. But we are looking at the big
picture and hopefully there is two or three months left in the season, we want
to play the right way.”
Nashville opened up the scoring as Johansen led a 2-on-1 rush and pulled the
puck back before beating Vasilevskiy with a wrist shot 7:50 into the game.
The Predators doubled their lead early in the second with one second
remaining on a power paly as Forsberg’s shot deflected off the stick of Tampa
Bay defenseman Anton Stralman and trickled through Vasilevskiy’s pads at
2:46.
Palat pulled the Lightning within a goal at 7:32 as he was open in the slot
to take a pass from Stralman and fired a shot from between the circles for his
10th.
Forsberg scored his second of the night, skating around Dan Girardi to get to
the top of the crease and sip the puck under Vasilevskiy at 6:24 to make it
3-1.
Smith put the game away, taking a long pass from Mattias Ekholm and skating
in alone to put a shot off the inside of the far post at 9:29.
”We just give up too many easy ones, they are too easy,” Cooper said. ”It’s
not like they are spending an ounce of time in our zone, they just go down and
find open space.”
NOTES: Tampa Bay RW Ryan Callahan returned to the lineup after missing five
games with an upper-body injury. … Nashville leading goal-scorer LW Viktor
Arvidsson missed the game with an undisclosed lower-body injury. … The Lightning
have allowed the opening goal in five consecutive games. … Forsberg is the
second player in franchise history to reach 60 points three different times,
joining J.P. Dumont. … Saros improved to 8-0-2 this season when starting on the
second night of a back-to-back games for the Predators
UP NEXT
Lightning: Host Boston on Tuesday night.
Predators: At Florida on Tuesday night.
.
The Wall