We're just at about the midway point of the week until Super Bowl Sunday! Welcome in to yet another Super Bowl preview on this blog provided by yours truly. This year's 52nd edition of the big game features the AFC champion and the reigning, defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. This is a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX where the Patriots topped the Eagles 24-21 for their 2nd consecutive Lombardi trophy. Much has changed since then, but for the Patriots, only Tom Brady and Bill Belichick remain from that Super Bowl win. While for the Eagles, there has been a lot of makeover since that season highlighted by Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens, Brian Dawkins, and head coach Andy Reid. And speaking of repeat, this Super Bowl is like deja vu all over again where the Pats can go back-to-back for their 6th trophy and send Philly into a world of heartbreak like they did 13 years ago since their first meeting at the big game. Or the Eagles can avenge that and deliver the first Lombardi trophy to the City of Brotherly Love. For these previews, I summarize both teams' road to the Super Bowl, keys for both teams, and I give my final score prediction. Let's roll!
Philadelphia Eagles
Nobody would've ever thought that the Eagles would've finished this season as the best team in NFC, let alone make it to the Super Bowl. It goes to show how much of an impressive job their front office did turning this once rebuilding team into a contender. The talent on this Eagles roster is a nice balance of youth and veteran leadership. They acquired some quality talent this year, especially in the free agent market. They signed Alshon Jeffrey, star wideout from the Bears. They snagged Chris Long and LeGarrette Blount from the Patriots. Both of them did a nice job in applying their experience as Super Bowl winners last year with the Patriots with this Eagles team, instilling veteran leadership and a championship culture. The trade for Dolphins Pro Bowler, Jay Ajayi was a huge mid-season deal for the team as he added another dimension to an already high-powered Eagles offense as a change-of-pace back and a pass catcher in the backfield.
In spite of the dream season, Philly did lose a couple of key players along their way. They lose Pro Bowl left tackle, Jason Peters in the early part of the season. But the most-wrenching injury they dealt with was to 2nd year starting QB, Carson Wentz. A lot of the Eagles wins this season were highlighted by the magnificent quarterback play of Wentz until that unfaithful Week 14 game against the Rams in LA where he tore his ACL diving into the end zone. I remember when the Raiders had that unfortunate scenario last season with Derek Carr. They were winning games until Carr went down in Week 16 against the Colts. Fortunately for Philly, they had a quality backup QB who won games as a starter and made the Pro Bowl at some point in his career. That backup would be Nick Foles. You talk about a feel-good, full circle story for Nick Foles. The guy almost quit football and he stepped in when Wentz got hurt. Now, he's the starting QB for the Eagles once again and he's seeking out to remind everyone the kind of magic he orchestrated when he last won the Eagles some games as a starter in 2013. I still remember when he tossed for 7 TDs in Oakland during that Week 9 matchup. I thought back then that was humiliating to give up that many TDs to a 2nd string QB. But Foles, he may be no Carson Wentz, but he plays like he's been there before and finds ways to win games for the Eagles. Overall, the Eagles' 13-3 record may be marked with an asterisk with the easy strength of schedule they had, but they snagged some quality wins here and there. Wins against Carolina and the LA Rams stood out. Both teams made the postseason. They hung 50+ points against a Broncos defense with Von Miller and the "No Fly Zone" secondary. How about the job they did in the postseason? They held the defending NFC champion Falcons to 10 points in the divisional round and they dropped almost 40 points against a quality Vikings defense in the NFC Championship to advance to the Super Bowl. It truly is a dream season for the team and the fans. And they've fully embraced the role of the underdog a la Rocky Balboa. In those two games in the postseason, they were heavy underdogs and they found ways to prevail against all odds. They'll look to do that again in what should be another David vs. Goliath type of matchup.
New England Patriots
We've all wrote about the Pats' road to the Super Bowl before. It is almost inevitable that the Patriots would represent the AFC in the Super Bowl as long as an Emperor Palpatine-lookalike (Star Wars reference) is roaming the sidelines and a certain QB from San Mateo donning #12 is under center. The Patriots' winning ways start and end with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. And if you truly hate the Patriots, then them making it to the Super Bowl almost every season seems like a redundancy and a nuisance as you just want to see a "fresh face" franchise represent the AFC for once in the modern Super Bowl era. But if you're full fledged football fan, you're seeing greatness at work and Brady, Belichick, and the Patriots are looking to make history for ring #6 and become the first team to repeat champions since they did it themselves back in Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX. Not much has changed from the Super Bowl team last year. But that doesn't stop them from making a few splashes in the offseason as they acquired speed demon wideout, Brandin Cooks from a trade with the Saints and defensive back Stephon Gilmore from division rival, Bills. They may have lost LeGarrette Blount to the Eagles, but they found a decent replacement in Rex Burkhead from the Bengals to be their running back for 3rd and short and goal line situations.
Coming into the season, there was a lot of talk about the Patriots and another 16-0 season. But that all went away when they received a stunning blowout loss to the Chiefs on the season opener. Not to mention, they lost Julian Edelman for the year. Their defense struggled early on in the season and they loss their key player in Dont'a Hightower for the year. After that Chiefs loss, the notion that the Patriots dynasty is dead permeated throughout the league. But, we should've known better to never count them out as long as Brady and Belichick are there. And who would've guessed that the Patriots would once again come out on top as the team to beat and the team with home field advantage throughout the AFC? The mantra of "next man up" and "do your job" lived on as certain players stepped up to make plays. The Brady to Cooks duo got better as the season progressed. Danny Amendola stepped in and filled the void Edelman left behind. The defense got better as a "bend-but-don't-break" unit. Brady, at age 40, continues to defy father time and play at a high level. Not even the "Madden Curse" can't work its voodoo against him (he was Madden '18's cover athlete). In the postseason, New England made quick work of the underachieving Titans in the divisional round. They got a good run for their money against the Jaguars, Blake Bortles, Leonard Fournette, and their vaunted "Sacksonville" pass rush. The Jags almost had the formula to beating the Pats. But, when a team has an elite QB and an elite head coach who've seen all kinds of stuff over the years, they'll find ways to overcome anything. And that was the result in the AFC championship game. The Patriots just find ways to crush the hopes and dreams of teams trying to knock them off the throne. For the Patriots heading into Super Bowl LII, it seems like the inevitable is going to eventually happen with them coming out on top against any NFC opponent who try to oppose their two decades of dominance (unless it's Eli Manning and the Giants).
Keys for the Eagles
This Eagles team is a well-rounded group. They have a lot of weapons on offense. They have an opportunistic defense lead by a deep defensive line that is capable of getting after the quarterback. The biggest thing for the Eagles is that Nick Foles is going to have play a near-perfect game similar to NFC championship against the Vikings. The run-pass-option (RPO) is the strength of this Eagles offense and Nick Foles excels at it because of his ability to read and react to what the defense is doing. During the NFC championship, Foles and co. did an impressive job in maintaining that balance in running and passing with the RPO. The Patriots' defense is obviously going to be a tough test because Bill Belichick and Pats' DC, Matt Patricia are masterminds in taking away opponents' best players. Definitely, they'll be ready account for their primary weapons such as Zach Ertz, Alshon Jeffrey, Jay Ajayi, and LeGarrette Blount. Probably, the obvious X-factor is Nelson Agholor. Agholor has been a fine breakout receiver for the Eagles after some tough sledding in his first two seasons. He's going to have to step up and cap off his breakout season in the biggest game of his career. Corey Clement, the third running back behind Ajayi and Blount has been solid out of the backfield as a third option. He's another X-factor to look out for as the Patriots account for Ajayi and Blount to stop the run. The defensive line for the Eagles has a knack to sack the quarterback. Chris Long, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, and Vinny Curry all have the ability to wreck the pocket. They not only have to get pressure on Tom Brady, but they also have to force turnovers, especially since their secondary unit is a little suspect. Even though their secondary is filled with solid playmakers such as Patrick Robinson and Malcolm Jenkins. Jim Schwartz, Eagles DC, is gonna have his hands full designing exotic looks to slow down Brady and the Pats' offense.
This Eagles team is a well-rounded group. They have a lot of weapons on offense. They have an opportunistic defense lead by a deep defensive line that is capable of getting after the quarterback. The biggest thing for the Eagles is that Nick Foles is going to have play a near-perfect game similar to NFC championship against the Vikings. The run-pass-option (RPO) is the strength of this Eagles offense and Nick Foles excels at it because of his ability to read and react to what the defense is doing. During the NFC championship, Foles and co. did an impressive job in maintaining that balance in running and passing with the RPO. The Patriots' defense is obviously going to be a tough test because Bill Belichick and Pats' DC, Matt Patricia are masterminds in taking away opponents' best players. Definitely, they'll be ready account for their primary weapons such as Zach Ertz, Alshon Jeffrey, Jay Ajayi, and LeGarrette Blount. Probably, the obvious X-factor is Nelson Agholor. Agholor has been a fine breakout receiver for the Eagles after some tough sledding in his first two seasons. He's going to have to step up and cap off his breakout season in the biggest game of his career. Corey Clement, the third running back behind Ajayi and Blount has been solid out of the backfield as a third option. He's another X-factor to look out for as the Patriots account for Ajayi and Blount to stop the run. The defensive line for the Eagles has a knack to sack the quarterback. Chris Long, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, and Vinny Curry all have the ability to wreck the pocket. They not only have to get pressure on Tom Brady, but they also have to force turnovers, especially since their secondary unit is a little suspect. Even though their secondary is filled with solid playmakers such as Patrick Robinson and Malcolm Jenkins. Jim Schwartz, Eagles DC, is gonna have his hands full designing exotic looks to slow down Brady and the Pats' offense.
Keys for the Patriots
The Patriots "bend-but-don't break" defense has been stellar as of late to get opposing offenses off the field and give the ball back to #12. They're especially good in goal line stands. Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia are obviously going to game plan to give Nick Foles different looks. That's the strength of the Pats' defense. On offense, it's simple, just make sure that Tom Brady has the ball in his hands in the final minutes of a possible tightly-contested game. Brady at age 40 can still get the ball out quickly to a receiver. Especially with this Eagles front, playmakers such as Danny Amendola, James White, and Dion Lewis are gonna have to step in. Amendola has done a good job in playing Julian Edelman's role. He was big in the final quarter of the AFC Championship against the Jaguars. Lewis and White are exceptional pass catchers out of the backfield. White especially was huge for New England in that insane 28-3 comeback against the Falcons in Super Bowl LI. He's going to have to have an encore for the Pats to repeat. The biggest question mark on the Patriots' offense is Rob Gronkowski's health. He took quite a shot to the helmet from Jacksonville's Safety, Barry Church, in the AFC Championship game. If he's good to go, it should open up a lot of opportunities for the offense. He's especially gonna open up a lot of opportunities for Brandin Cooks for big plays. Speaking of Cooks, he's still got a pretty favorable matchup against this Eagles secondary even if Gronk can't go. Cooks' presence alone as a deep threat makes things easier for Amendola and Chris Hogan to get open and make plays. But again, a healthy Gronk opens up a lot of opportunity for New England to execute big plays.
The Patriots "bend-but-don't break" defense has been stellar as of late to get opposing offenses off the field and give the ball back to #12. They're especially good in goal line stands. Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia are obviously going to game plan to give Nick Foles different looks. That's the strength of the Pats' defense. On offense, it's simple, just make sure that Tom Brady has the ball in his hands in the final minutes of a possible tightly-contested game. Brady at age 40 can still get the ball out quickly to a receiver. Especially with this Eagles front, playmakers such as Danny Amendola, James White, and Dion Lewis are gonna have to step in. Amendola has done a good job in playing Julian Edelman's role. He was big in the final quarter of the AFC Championship against the Jaguars. Lewis and White are exceptional pass catchers out of the backfield. White especially was huge for New England in that insane 28-3 comeback against the Falcons in Super Bowl LI. He's going to have to have an encore for the Pats to repeat. The biggest question mark on the Patriots' offense is Rob Gronkowski's health. He took quite a shot to the helmet from Jacksonville's Safety, Barry Church, in the AFC Championship game. If he's good to go, it should open up a lot of opportunities for the offense. He's especially gonna open up a lot of opportunities for Brandin Cooks for big plays. Speaking of Cooks, he's still got a pretty favorable matchup against this Eagles secondary even if Gronk can't go. Cooks' presence alone as a deep threat makes things easier for Amendola and Chris Hogan to get open and make plays. But again, a healthy Gronk opens up a lot of opportunity for New England to execute big plays.
Prediction
If this Super Bowl didn't feature the Patriots, it would've made my pick a little more indecisive. But, it's just nearly impossible to pick against them as long they have a certain #12 at the helm and an old guy with a hoodie roaming the sidelines. The Eagles have been underdogs all season long and definitely, they're gonna show some fight. But, in the end the experience of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots playing and winning multiple Super Bowls is just gonna prove too much for Philly. I'd say it's gonna be a dog fight for the the first half and and a little bit in the third quarter. But, Brady and the Pats will continue to find a way to close out teams and they'll eventually pull away in the 4th quarter to give New England their 6th Lombardi trophy, much to the dismay to a majority of us who are tired of their winning ways. But it is what it is. Brady on the field and Belichick on the sidelines + facing off an NFC team that's not Eli Manning and the Giants = a guaranteed Patriots Super Bowl win.
PHI 17 NE 27
