Indeed, Blake Bortles, Case Keenum, and Nick Foles entered the weekend with a chance to start in the Super Bowl, while the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Russel Wilson, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger—the list goes on—all watched from home.
A fourth-quarter comeback notwithstanding, Bortles, who by any standard (and certainly his own) played very well, nearly outdueled Brady, a six-time Super Bowl champion. Had Keenum and the Vikings not turned in their collective worst performance of the season, they’d be playing “host” to the Patriots two weeks from now in Minneapolis. Foles, who is known better for his likeness to Jon Heder’s Napoleon Dynamite, turned in the most shocking performance of the weekend—carving the top-ranked Vikings’ defense to the tune of 350-plus yards and 3 touchdowns.