By: Zack Adams
2/4/18
MINNEAPOLIS -- The 2017-18 NFL season will conclude this Sunday inside U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis when the AFC champion, the New England Patriots square off against the NFC champion, the Philadelphia Eagles. It will all come down to this. A rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX that was played down in Jacksonville where the Patriots secured their third Super Bowl victory in four seasons back in '04. New England of course won that game, 24-21. The rematch in the league's biggest game is finally here are 14 years of waiting for Eagles fans, and very well this could be the year for the NFC champions but never count out Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in the Playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl.
GAME DETAILS:
Where? - U.S. Bank Stadium -- Minneapolis, Minnesota -- Home of the Minnesota Vikings
When? - February 4th, 2018 at 6:30pm EST
What? - Super Bowl LII (52)
Line - NE -4.5
Hashtags - #PHIvsNE // #SBLII
Broadcast - NBC (Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)
Halftime Show - Justin Timberlake
POSTSEASON STAT LEADERS:
PHI:
Passing - Nick Foles 49/63, 598 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions
Rushing - Jay Ajayi 33 attempts and 127 yards
Receiving - Alshon Jeffrey 9 catches, 146 yards, two touchdowns
Kicking - Jake Elliott 4/4 field goals, 5/6 extra points
Tackles - Ronald Darby 14 total tackles (12 solo)
Interceptions - Patrick Robinson/Corey Graham one each -- Robinson's was a Pick-6 vs Minnesota
NE:
Passing - Tom Brady 61/91, 627 yards, 5 touchdowns
Rushing - Dion Lewis 24 attempts, 96 yards, one touchdown
Receiving - Danny Amendola 18 catches, 196 yards, two touchdowns
Kicking - Stephen Gostkowski 1/2 field goals, 8/8 extra points
Tackles - Trey Flowers 12 tackles (eight solo)
Interceptions - NONE
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES:
When Carson Wentz went down in the second half against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 10 with a torn ACL, most NFL fans including myself, "threw in the towel" for a potential Eagles Super Bowl run. Following that game (which was a 43-35 victory), they sat at 11-2 with three regular season games remaining. The NFC East was already on lock down but it was maintaining home field advantage throughout the Playoffs became the goal for Doug Pederson's squad. Philly went 2-1 over that stretch with Nick Foles under center, including Foles throwing for four touchdowns in a 34-29 road victory over the Giants on Dec. 17. The former Arizona Wildcat actually is a "steal" as backup quarterback. Foles was selected to the Pro Bowl back in 2013. The same season that he lead the league in passer rating at 119.2. Nick Foles gave Eagles fans hope. Hope that they would overcome being the "underdog" and still make it out of the NFC. Without quarterback Carson Wentz and tackle Jason Peters, the Philadelphia Eagles have a chance to play for a Super Bowl. The Eagles sit at 0-2 in franchise history in the big game. One of those two losses came back in 2004 to the Patriots in the 39th edition of the Super Bowl.
The Eagles indeed have offensive fire power to potentially win their first Super Bowl in three tries Sunday. On Halloween, Jay Ajayi was traded from Miami to Philadelphia. No tricks, just a treat. Ajayi was a huge add to the Eagles backfield that already had LaGarrette Blount. Ajayi has rushed for 408 yards since the trade. Receiver Alshon Jeffrey was acquired this past offseason via Free Agency from the Chicago Bears. Guess what Jeffrey said last season?
"I guarantee you we'll win a Super Bowl." - Alshon Jeffrey
That was when he was still a member of the Chicago Bears. Well, Jeffrey never specified which "team" would be winning said Super Bowl. Jeffrey has a chance to make his bold prediction from December of 2016 a reality Sunday. Jeffrey has caught 57 passes for 789 yards and nine touchdowns this season. In Chicago, Jeffrey eclipsed the 800 yard receiving mark in his two previous seasons but he was the "only guy" in Chicago. Here, he shares targets with tight end Zach Ertz (824 yards) and fellow wide receiver Nelson Agholor (768 yards). So Nick Foles has three impactful weapons at his disposal against New England. The trio combined for 25 touchdown grabs in the regular season.
The Eagles defense has given up just 17 points in two Playoff games. A 15-10 victory over the Falcons in the Divisional Round followed by a 38-7 thrashing of the Vikings in the NFC Championship game. Obviously, the Philadelphia defense has played great in the postseason, but they also performed great at stopping the run all season. The Eagles had the best rush defense in the NFL during the regular season as they held opponents to just 1,267 total rushing yards on 3.8 yards per carry. Their opponents in Super Bowl LII, the Patriots, are 10th in the league in rushing at they totaled 1,889 yards with 4.2 yards per carry on average. It will be interesting to see how the Eagles rush defense can contain an average Patriot rushing attack. The Pats final two touchdowns in Super Bowl LI were scored on runs by James White.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS:
The New England Patriots will be playing in their third Super Bowl in four years Sunday. Many thought when Julian Edelman went down in the Preseason, it would be hard for New England to get back to the Super Bowl; especially after the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to Foxsborough in Week 1 and beat the Patriots, 42-27. After starting the season 2-2, Bill Belichick lit a fire under his team (I assume) and they won 11 of their last twelve in which included an eight game win streak before dropping a game to AFC East rival, the Miami Dolphins 27-20 on Monday Night Football.
The so called, "Greatest of All Time" Tom Brady indeed had himself an MVP like season as he took home his third career NFL Most Valuable Player award Saturday night. Brady threw for 4,577 yards, 32 touchdowns, and eight interceptions during the regular season. Nine of Brady's 16 regular season starts came without an interception. As for touchdowns, Brady has five 3+ touchdown games this season. Not to mention, that Tom Brady is doing all of this without his leading receiver from a season ago, Julian Edelman. If anyone still questions Brady's ability and these numbers mean nothing to you, well watch Super Bowl LII and you will see that Tom's "still got it".
As previously stated, Julian Edelman went down in the Preseason with a Torn ACL. No need to fear for New England fans when it happened, though. The Patriots acquired Brandin Cooks for the New Orleans Saints this past offseason and that gave Brady yet another offensive weapon. Cooks was second on the team in receiving with 1,082 yards on 65 receptions. Cooks also caught 7 touchdowns. Rob Gronkowski was New England's leading receiver, because of course Gronk was. For the third time in four years actually, Gronkowski has lead the team in receiving yards. Gronk caught 69 passes (insert Gronk joke here) for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns. Danny Amendola came in clutch in the 24-20 win in the AFC Championship game over the Jaguars by catching two touchdowns, including the game winner. During the regular season, Amendola caught 61 passes for 659 yards and two touchdowns.
New England's strength is of course, through the air. But New England can also get it done on the ground. Dion Lewis led the team in rushing with 896 yards and six touchdowns during the regular season. Lewis has just totaled 96 rushing yards in the regular season. that leads the team over the postseason. The Super Bowl LI hero from a year ago, James White only totaled 171 yards during the regular season but he has came in "clutch" in two Playoff games. Only 15 yards on the ground in those two games, but two big touchdowns for White. He scored three touchdowns a year ago in Super Bowl LI what will White do this year in the NFL's biggest game?
The New England defense would have to be the team's kryptonite. The Patriots are 29th in total yards allowed with 5,586 yards given up. If the Eagles can do any damage through the air or their offensive line can open holes for Ajayi or Blount, it could be a long night for Matt Patricia's defense but yet again, they would not be in the Super Bowl without a pretty solid defense when it counts and Sunday it's now or never, of course, because the Vince Lombardi trophy will be on the line.
MY PREDICTION:
Patriots 31-26. Back-to-back Super Bowl victories from Brady and Belichick. It is nearly impossible to stop these two in the Super Bowl, well, unless your quarterback is Eli Manning. But seriously, I do think that these two teams match up well with one another and I do expect a good game. No 28-3 business though, New England. I am not even a Falcons fan but I cannot deal with another year of memes. I say Philadelphia leads early on and into halftime but the Tom Brady Show heats up in the third and the Pats maintain a lead in the fourth to give them their fifth Super Bowl victory, or fifth Vince Lombardi trophy.
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