A 2017 National Football League season that began with patriotic protests and boycotts will conclude with a Super Bowl match-up that pits the two most patriotically-named franchises in the league against one another.
Super Bowl LII will feature the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots (13-3) and the National Football Conference champion Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) on Feb. 4th in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The last time these two teams met with all the marbles on the line was Super Bowl XXXIX, with the Patriots edging out the Eagles to claim the franchise’s second-straight Super Bowl title.
The Patriots once again find themselves playing for a consecutive Super Bowl title, as the New England based franchise was able to accomplish an unforgettable comeback win against the Atlanta Falcons a year prior in Super Bowl LI.
Needless to say, winning is not a foreign concept to a Patriots organization that has won the World Championship five times in 10 total appearances.
Meanwhile, the words “Philadelphia Eagles” and “winning” don’t usually materialize in the same sentence.
The Eagles are hoping to reward their fan base with the franchise’s first Super Bowl title after falling short in their two previous attempts.
Many NFL pundits lacked enthusiasm about the Eagles’ chances to run the table in the NFC after starting quarterback Carson Wentz was sidelined with an ACL tear at the end of the regular season, and the performance of his successor may be the biggest surprise of this year’s playoffs.
Nick Foles has done an admirable job stepping into the starting signal-caller role for the Eagles, and is hoping to become the 1Oth backup quarterback, the first since quarterback Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVI, to lead his team to a World Championship win.
Foles passed for 246 yards against the Falcons in the divisional round and made beating the Vikings’ top-ranked defense look like child’s play when he threw for 352 yards in the NFC championship.
Philadelphia’s recent offensive performances bode well for them considering their next match-up is against a Patriots defense that allowed 374 total yards against a Jaguars team led by the notoriously average Blake Bortles.
Despite their close call against a heavy underdog in the AFC title game, the Patriots are still a five and a half point favorite to bring home the championship.
This is largely due to the postseason consistency demonstrated by New England coach Bill Belichick and Brady.
It’s hard to bet against a player like Brady who has reached the Super Bowl in eight of his 16 seasons as a starter, or a coach like Belichick who has eight Super Bowl appearances and five championships to his name — each of which is the most for a coach in NFL history.
However, the Eagles are not as much of an underdog as some fans may think.
Philadelphia’s offense features explosive play makers in running back Jay Ajayi, tight end Zach Ertz and receiver Alshon Jeffery. Couple that with the consistency that Foles and the Eagles defense has demonstrated in the playoffs, and this may be the team with the best shot to unseat the Patriots.
The status of New England tight end Rob Gronkowski is also questionable after the star tight end suffered a concussion in the AFC championship against Jacksonville. The Patriots are fully capable of winning without him, but losing him gives the Eagles’ defense one less play maker to worry about.
These factors and my biased animosity toward teams seeking to become repeat champions leads me to pick against the near surefire Belichick and Brady in the Super Bowl.
If Foles focuses on getting the ball to his offensive stars and minimizing mistakes, I’ve got the Eagles edging out the Patriots in a Super Bowl that, in all likelihood, comes down to the wire.