It
is finally here
Super
Bowl LII in Minneapolis, MN
Kickoff
between the Patriots and Eagles is at 4:00 PM (MT) on the NBC Television
Network
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
OFFENSIVE RANKINGS:
Points
3rd, Total Yards 7th, Passing Yards 13th, Rushing Yards 3rd, Fewest Turnovers 11th, 3rd-Down Conversions 8th, Red Zone Scoring
1st, Total Touchdowns 1st, Passing Touchdowns 1st, Rushing
Touchdowns 24th
DEFENSIVE RANKINGS: Points 4th, Total
Yards 4th, Passing Yards 4th, Rushing Yards 18th, Turnovers 4th, 3rd-Down Conversions
3rd, Red Zone Scoring 20th, Total Touchdowns 8th, Passing Touchdowns 20th, Rushing
Touchdowns 5th
SUPER
BOWL RECORD: 0-2
Losses:
XV, XXXIX
LAST
SUPER BOWL APPEARANCE: XXXIX, 24-21 loss to Patriots
LAST
NFL CHAMPIONSHIP: 1960
Fun
story about Super Bowl XXXIX
I
was in the early part of my deployment on the USS Carl Vinson for that game. I
had the unfortunate luck of being on watch but it was a roving watch in out of
plant spaces so I would occasionally check out the game on the mess decks and
provide a scoring update to those stuck in the plant.
I
caught the final five minutes of the game and while watching in a standing room
only M-Division berthing lounge, I was wondering why the Eagles were not
hurrying up down 10. Philadelphia did score a touchdown to close the gap to 3
but it was after the two-minute warning. The Eagles got the ball back but were
pinned inside their own 5 and out of time outs. Donovan McNabb lobbed a pass to
L.J. Smith but was intercepted by Rodney Harrison to secure the Patriots 3rd
Super Bowl win in 4 seasons.
We
teased our departmental yeoman, Milton Abbott, over the loss but he boasted
loud to everyone in berthing, “Don’t worry. The Eagles will be back next
season.”
(Narrator:
No, they weren’t)
The
Eagles were the dominant team in the NFC East this season and looked like the
favorite to win the NFC until Carson Wentz went down with a torn ACL against
the Rams in Week 14. Despite being underdogs in their two home playoff games,
the Eagles beat the Falcons and crushed the Vikings 38-7 in the NFC
Championship Game.
Quarterback
Nick Foles threw for 352 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Vikings. Two of those
touchdowns were caught by Alshon Jeffery who caught 5 passes on 5 targets for
85. The other touchdown was caught by Torrey Smith who was on the Ravens 2012
championship team.
Even
though he caught no touchdowns, Zach Ertz caught 8 passes on 8 targets for 93 yards.
LeGarrette
Blount and Chris Long were members of the Patriots last season, but are now on
the Eagles this year. I am also keeping an eye on that Eagles front seven
defensive unit and their ability to put pressure on the quarterback and create
turnovers. In the NFC Championship Game, the Eagles forced 3 turnovers
including a Patrick Robinson interception that was returned for a touchdown
that started the Eagles rout.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
REGULAR
SEASON RECORD: 13-3, AFC East Champion, AFC 1 seed
OFFENSIVE
RANKINGS: Points 2nd, Total Yards 1st, Passing Yards 2nd, Rushing Yards 10th, Fewest
Turnovers 2nd, 3rd-Down Conversions 18th, Red Zone Scoring 5th, Total Touchdowns 4th, Passing Touchdowns 3rd, Rushing Touchdowns
6th
DEFENSIVE
RANKINGS: Points 5th, Total Yards 29th, Passing Yards 30th, Rushing Yards 3rd, Fewest
Turnovers 11th, 3rd-Down Conversions 21st, Red Zone Scoring 4th, Total
Touchdowns 6th, Passing Touchdowns 18th, Rushing Touchdowns 2nd
SUPER
BOWL RECORD: 5-4
Wins:
XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LI
Losses:
XX, XXXI, XLII, XLVI
LAST
SUPER BOWL APPEARANCE: LI, 34-28 overtime win over Falcons
LAST
NFL CHAMPIONSHIP: 2016
New
England got off to a rough start losing to Kansas City on opening night and a
last second loss at home to Carolina that brought their record to 2-2, but
followed it up by winning 8 games in a row. New England gave up 30 or more
points three times and it was in 3 of their first 4 games. Since then, they
have not and only lost once, a road loss on Monday night in Miami.
The
Patriots trailed the Jaguars in the AFC Championship but two 4th-quarter touchdown
passes from quarterback Tom Brady to receiver Danny Amendola sent New England
to the franchise’s 10th Super Bowl.
Tight
end Rob Gronkowski suffered a concussion against the Jaguars but is cleared to
play. Even though Brady was named the MVP of last year’s Super Bowl, an
argument can be made for running back James White who caught 14 passes for 110
yards and had 3 total touchdowns including the game winning rushing touchdown
in overtime. Even though he has had a quiet regular season, don’t be surprised
if he is called upon again in this game.
THE PICK
Since
returning to televising the NFL in 2006, NBC has lucked out on some pretty
entertaining Super Bowls. Super Bowl XLIII saw the Cardinals take a 23-20 lead
with 2:37 remaining on Larry Fitzgerald’s 65-yard catch and run for a
touchdown, only to be equaled by Santonio Holmes’ toe-tapping sideline grab
with 35 seconds to put the Steelers up by 4. A strip-sack of quarterback Kurt
Warner on the Cardinals’ final drive secured the Steelers sixth Super Bowl
championship.
Three
years later in Indianapolis, Mario Manningham’s sideline grab from Eli Manning
kept the Giants’ hopes of upsetting the Patriots yet again in a Super Bowl.
Three years ago, it was the Patriots becoming the third team to come back from
down 10 to win the Super Bowl and the first to do it in the fourth quarter. The
Seahawks made a valiant effort to regain the lead with a crazy 33-yard catch by
Jermaine Kearse that was then followed up by 2 plays later with Russel Wilson
throwing the ball instead of handing off to Marshawn Lynch.
Will
this be another close game too? In the 7 Super Bowls the Patriots have played
in Belichick-Brady era the margins have been 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, and 6. The deciding
points came with 3 minutes left in the game or later in 6 of the 7 games.
This
is the 6th matchup in Super Bowl history where the teams have faced in a
previous matchup. Those other games are: Dolphins-Washington, Steelers-Cowboys,
Giants-Patriots, 49ers-Bengals, and Cowboys-Bills. The Giants, 49ers, and
Cowboys in the matchup against the Bills are the only teams to win both the
first game and then the rematch. The Steelers won Super Bowls X and XIII, but
the Cowboys won the rematch of the rematch in Super Bowl XXX. Miami capped
their undefeated season over Washington in Super Bowl VII but a decade later Washington
won their first Super Bowl title.
Tom
Brady won his 3rd MVP award last night and is the oldest NFL player to win that
award. NFL MVP awardees currently have not had the best of luck in the Super
Bowl recently having lost the previous 8 games which included the Patriots loss
to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The last NFL MVP to win the Super Bowl was
Kurt Warner in Super Bowl XXXIV.
The
NFC won the interconference matchups 41 out of 64 times this season, but both
New England and Philadelphia went 3-1 against the other conference.
SO, WHO WINS…?
This
pattern looks pretty familiar. A win against the NFC West champion, then a win
against the NFC South champion in Houston, and a matchup against the Eagles to
go back-to-back.
Well…
I
said at the start of the season there would be a repeat game (just the wrong
NFC team). And
I said the Patriots would win at the start of the playoffs.
So…
I guess I’m saying…
PATRIOTS 31, EAGLES 27
MVP: Tom Brady, QB
NON-QB MVP: Rob Gronkowski,
TE
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