Washington: Defending champion New England reached the Super Bowl for the third time in four seasons on Sunday, edging Jacksonville 24-20 to book an NFL championship showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tom Brady’s two fourth-quarter touchdown passes rallied the Patriots into Super Bowl 52 against an Eagles squad that humbled the NFL’s top-rated defensive unit in routing Minnesota 38-7.

The Patriots boosted their record of Super Bowl trips to 10 and they could match Pittsburgh’s record six Super Bowl triumphs on February 4 at Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Brady said. “It’s pretty amazing to be on a team that wins these kind of games. It’s so great.”

Nick Foles, who took over as Philadelphia’s quarterback last month after an injury to Carson Wentz, completed 26-of-33 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns as the underdog Eagles humbled the Vikings.

“This moment, it’s unbelievable. It’s humbling,” Foles said. “The team was amazing. I’m a little speechless. It’s amazing soaking this all in. We all believe in each other. Everyone was against us. We came in here and came out with an amazing victory.”

Agence France-Presse