Honestly, if you ask any football fan in Philadelphia where they were on the Super Bowl LII date, they won’t just give you a day. They’ll give you a play-by-play of their heart rate. It was February 4, 2018. A Sunday that felt like it was plucked out of a movie script.
The air in Minneapolis was biting. Bone-chilling, really. We’re talking about a temperature of 2°F at kickoff, though luckily for the players and the 67,612 fans in attendance, U.S. Bank Stadium has a roof. Outside, the city was a frozen tundra, but inside? It was a track meet.
Why the Super Bowl LII Date Still Stings (or Soars)
Most people remember this game for the "Philly Special," but the logistics behind the Super Bowl LII date were actually kinda wild. It was the second time Minneapolis hosted the big game—the first being back in 1992—and it remains the northernmost Super Bowl ever played.
There was this weird tension in the air leading up to February 4. You had the New England Patriots, basically the final boss of the NFL, led by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Then you had the Eagles. The "underdogs." They literally wore plastic German Shepherd masks to lean into the narrative. Their MVP-caliber quarterback, Carson Wentz, was out with a torn ACL, leaving the keys to the car with Nick Foles. Nobody—and I mean basically nobody outside of Pennsylvania—thought Foles was going to out-duel Brady.
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But he did.
The game kicked off at 6:30 PM ET on NBC. What followed was 3 hours and 44 minutes of pure, unadulterated offensive chaos. There were only two punts in the entire game. One. Single. Punt. from each team. Well, actually, the Patriots didn't punt at all. The Eagles punted once. That's a record that still feels fake when you say it out loud.
The Numbers That Broke the Calculator
If you’re looking at the Super Bowl LII date from a statistical perspective, it was a nightmare for defensive coordinators. The two teams combined for 1,151 total yards. That isn't just a Super Bowl record; it’s the most yards in any NFL game, regular season or playoffs, ever.
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Brady threw for 505 yards. You'd think throwing for half a kilometer of turf would guarantee a ring, right? Wrong. The final score was Philadelphia 41, New England 33.
- Total Viewership: About 103.4 million people tuned in. Interestingly, that was actually the lowest audience since 2009 at the time, but it still dominated the ratings.
- The Halftime Show: Justin Timberlake took the stage. It was his first time back since the "wardrobe malfunction" of 2004. He did a tribute to Prince, which was a bit controversial because he used a giant projection of the late singer in Prince's hometown.
- The Ads: A 30-second spot cost about $5 million.
The Philly Special: A Play for the Ages
We have to talk about the play. You know the one. Fourth-and-goal. Foles moves out of the pocket like he's confused. The ball is snapped to Corey Clement. Clement tosses it to Trey Burton. Burton—who was a quarterback in high school—lofts a perfect spiral to a wide-open Nick Foles in the end zone.
It was gutsy. It was borderline insane. It happened right before halftime on that Super Bowl LII date, and it completely shifted the psychology of the game. It told the Patriots, "We aren't scared of you."
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Surprising Facts Most People Forget
Everyone remembers the win, but do you remember that Pink sang the National Anthem while she had the actual flu? She reportedly swallowed a throat lozenge right before the first note.
And then there was the "hologram" drama. Before the game, rumors swirled that Timberlake would use a hologram of Prince. Prince famously hated the idea of holograms, calling them "demonic" in an old interview. Timberlake pivoted to a video projection on a massive sheet of fabric instead, which sorta appeased the fans but still felt a bit "meh" to the locals.
Actionable Insights for NFL History Buffs
If you're looking to relive the magic or research the specific impact of this game, here is what you should do next:
- Watch the "Philly Special" from the All-22 angle. Seeing the secondary bit on the motion is a masterclass in play design.
- Check the "Mic'd Up" footage. Hearing the literal conversation between Doug Pederson and Nick Foles where Foles suggests "Philly Philly?" is the closest you'll get to being on that sideline.
- Compare the 2018 stats to modern games. Even with the league becoming more pass-heavy, the 1,151-yard record hasn't been sniffed in a championship setting since.
The Super Bowl LII date of February 4, 2018, changed the trajectory of two franchises. It ended the Eagles' 57-year championship drought and proved that, sometimes, the backup really is the hero. It was a cold night in Minnesota, but for anyone wearing green, it was the warmest winter on record.