Super Bowl MVP 2018: Key Stats, Twitter Reaction and More for Nick Foles

Nick Foles started the 2017 season as the backup quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles and ended it as the Super Bowl MVP.

Foles and the Eagles stunned the New England Patriots 41-33 in Sunday's Super Bowl in Minneapolis, preventing Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the rest of the dynasty from winning their third Lombardi Trophy in four years.

The Philadelphia quarterback led the way, dicing the New England defense for 373 passing yards and three touchdown throws with one interception and a touchdown reception. While Foles has been a journeyman in recent years, playing for the St. Louis Rams in 2015 and Kansas City Chiefs in 2016, he will now forever be known as the MVP signal-caller who gave the Eagles their first Super Bowl title in franchise history.

He did it in dramatic style, spearheading a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive after the Patriots took a 33-32 lead in the fourth quarter with a Rob Gronkowski touchdown reception and the ensuing extra point.

The winning drive included a 4th-and-1 conversion to Zach Ertz and ended with Ertz diving across the goal line and losing the ball when he hit the ground on an 11-yard touchdown reception. The play was reviewed to determine if Ertz survived the ground to complete the catch, but the officials said he was a runner at that point and confirmed the touchdown.

Foles and Ertz were the heroes, but the defense did its part, too. Derek Barnett recovered a fumble on Brandon Graham's strip sack, which led to a field goal and an eight-point lead, and the secondary stood strong on New England's Hail Mary.

The long drive Foles directed in the fourth quarter will go down in Super Bowl lore, but he also started quickly with a deep ball to Alshon Jeffery for the opening touchdown. And he found Corey Clement in the end zone with a beautifully placed ball past multiple defenders to extend the Eagles' lead to two scores in the third quarter:

The most notable play in the first three quarters, however, came with less than a minute remaining in the second.

Philadelphia faced fourth down on New England's 1-yard line, and head coach Doug Pederson elected to turn Foles into a receiver with a trick play. The quarterback hauled in a pass from Trey Burton without a defender anywhere near him:

According to NFL Research, Foles became the first player to both throw for and catch a touchdown in the same Super Bowl.

Twitter couldn't believe someone who started the season as a backup went blow-for-blow with arguably the greatest of all time in Brady:

OddsShark underscored the odds Foles faced entering Sunday's contest:

It's not as if Brady didn't hold up his end of the bargain. He finished with 505 passing yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions, but it was Foles who scored the game-winning touchdown and Brady who fumbled with the contest hanging in the balance.

The question moving forward is whether Foles will go back to being Carson Wentz's backup or if he will start in 2018—perhaps for another team.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported before Sunday's game that other teams will try to trade for Foles and that the Eagles would at least entertain the notion.

If they make such a move with the Super Bowl MVP, it would certainly turn some heads.