By Dimitrios Kontogiannis, Sports Editor
The 2018 NFL season has been one to remember. The Jacksonville Jaguars made the playoffs for the first time since 2007, and made their first AFC Championship game since 1999. The Cleveland Browns had only the second 0-16 season in NFL history as well.
The people’s boycott of the NFL because of Colin Kaepernick has worked. NFL viewership has declined for the second straight season, dropping about 2 millions viewers. And to wrap it all up, Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback Nick Foles led the team to a Super Bowl win over one of the best dynasties in NFL history, the New England Patriots, after the Eagles franchise quarterback Carson Wentz went down in week 14. Foles becomes the 10th quarterback ever to be a backup and lead his team to the big game.
This season was full of surprises, full of awesome rookie performances, and full of injuries. Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson was terrific, passing for 1,699 yards to go along with 18 touchdown’s and nine interceptions until he was sadly ruled out for the season during a Week 7 loss to Seattle. Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky also seems to have a good future, as the second overall pick, 2,193 yards with a 77.5 quarterback rating.
Rookie running backs had a heck of a year. Kansas City Chiefs rookie running back Kareem Hunt set the rookie rushing record as a third round pick. Meanwhile, Jacksonville Jaguars rookie running back Leonard Fournette also had a 1,000 yard season. Vikings rookie Dalvin Cook and seventh round pick Chris Carson of the Seahawks also had great years before going down to injury, which segways into the next big part of the NFL season.
Aaron Rodgers, Carson Wentz, JJ Watt, David Johnson, Odell Beckham, just to name a few, went down with lengthy injuries, some for the season.
Super Bowl LII ended up being a 41-33 win for the Eagles over the Patriots, even though Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passed for over 500 yards and three touchdowns. It was the Eagles first Super Bowl win in their franchise’s history.