Super Bowl LII Preview

The New England Patriots will be facing the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018, tune in live on NBC kickoff is at 5:30 CT

In my first official post on my new blog, I would like to take the opportunity to talk about a major sporting event that will be taking place 10 days from today. The 52nd Super Bowl is set to be a good one between one team that everyone expected to be here, and a team that has surprised everyone including their own fans this year. Representing the AFC this year will be the New England Patriots, and representing the NFC side of the bracket is the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles have been an amazing story to follow this year, starting with the emergence of their two-year star quarterback Carson Wentz. Being a fan of the Eagles I was able to witness Carson's growth from year one to year two. Wentz was for most of the season considered the clear front-runner to win this year's MVP award until an abrupt left ACL tear ended his 2017 season. Many suggest you can still make a case for Wentz to be crowned this year’s MVP, but others believe the quarterback the Eagles must defeat in the Super Bowl (Tom Brady) is now the clear front-runner for this year’s MVP award. At the age of 40 Tom Brady silenced all his doubters and led the league in passing yards for the third time in his long career, but this time he's done it while being the oldest quarterback to do so in the history of the NFL. And he did it without his favorite target Julian Edelman who tore his ACL during a pre-season game in August. But overcoming obstacles has just become a part of Brady's game. If the Eagles are to have any chance to de-throne Tom Brady and win the franchise’s first-ever Super Bowl win the defense must show up and be in Tom's face every play from start to finish. Many believed that the Jaguars defense would be able to disrupt Brady long enough to gain a lead early and run the clock out with their premiere rookie running back Leonard Fournette. In my opinion, that plan seemed to be working well as the Jaguars carried a 14-10 lead over the Patriots into halftime. The Jaguars defense was doing their job in the first half to perfection, getting pressure on Brady almost every time he dropped back and holding him to zero passing touchdowns in the first half. After halftime though the Jaguars defense seemed tired and couldn't get enough pressure on Brady, which prompted the Patriots comeback in the fourth quarter. One of the reasons why I believe the Eagles defense will have success in the Super Bowl is because the Eagles have the best front seven in the NFL. The Eagles run an aggressive 4-3 defense which allows the Eagles front seven to be rotating to keep players from being fatigue in the latter part of the game. One way Tom Brady and the Patriots can keep the Eagles from subbing in and out is by going in a no-huddle offense. I can almost assure you that Brady and Belichick will have a plan to keep the Eagles from subbing in and out whenever they want. No matter how you look at it I believe Super Bowl 52 will be an intense close game that should be entertaining to watch. Football Power Index (FPI) has the Patriots favored to win at 53%, while Vegas has the Patriots as 5 point favorites. As a devoted fan of the Philadelphia Eagles I hope that they can find a way to win their first ever Super Bowl victory, but as a fan of the game I can't see Brady and Belichick losing this one. Now maybe if Wentz was healthy we would be having another discussion...