The Philadelphia Eagles saw their 10-point first-half lead over the New England Patriots completely dissipate midway through the fourth quarter after Tom Brady threw his third touchdown pass of the night.

However, the Eagles answered right back with a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took just over seven minutes off the clock to grab the lead back for good with just over two minutes left in the game. After the game, Doug Pederson admitted that his team needed to score a touchdown on that drive in order to top the Patriots, according to Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk.

“I knew that we were going to have to score a touchdown in that situation,” Pederson said. “A field goal wasn’t going to be good enough, not against Tom and the Patriots, so we stayed aggressive.

“Nick (Foles) made some outstanding throws, guys made some plays for him — Nelson (Agholor), (Zach) Ertz on the touchdown. Play after play, guys really stepped up tonight, and just had to get a touchdown in that situation.”

Quarterback Nick Foles and Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz made a few huge plays on that drive. The first came on a two-yard connection on 4th-and-1 to pick up a key first down. The latter came on an 11-yard pass with Ertz running free in man coverage to get into the end zone. It was a potentially controversial play with the soon-to-be-changed catch rule coming into play, but the call was ultimately confirmed.

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As a result, the Patriots into needing a touchdown instead of a field goal to win the game. Defensive end Brandon Graham made a huge play by strip sacking Brady, and Derek Barnett recovered. New England got another shot, but a Hail Mary heave with time expiring from the reigning league MVP came up short.

The Eagles utilized an all-around effort on both ends with timely plays, and Pederson's continued aggressive play-calling played a huge factor in helping lift his team to their first Super Bowl win. If the Eagles took a conservative approach on that final drive, the outcome of the game could have been much different.

Instead, Philadelphia wound up on the right side of history in Super Bowl LII with Pederson's game plan working out in his team's favor on Sunday night.