Ellender girls grab control of District 7-4A
January 31, 2018
Locals pick the Super Bowl
January 31, 2018
I’ve been asked about the Super Bowl at least 100 times in the past week, so I decided to answer everyone’s questions in my column so that there wouldn’t be any more confusion.
Since the first month of the season, I’ve picked the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl. I thought the Patriots were far and away the best team last season – even though they should have lost in the big game to the Falcons.
With the addition of Brandin Cooks, I thought New England would be even better in 2018, especially considering that Rob Gronkowski wasn’t available to the team during their postseason run a year ago.
So with all of that being said, I want to state up front that I did watch the playoffs objectively and I honestly did change my Super Bowl pick to the Minnesota Vikings after watching the way that they beat the Saints.
But now that the Vikings are out of the playoffs, I’m back on the Tom Brady train and I think he’s going to win the Super Bowl again.
The Patriots are just the gold standard, ya’ll.
Like, I know that people love to hate on New England and I’m not a fan of the team, myself. But the facts are the facts. Their current run is the most impressive thing that any of us has ever seen in modern sports.
Think about it.
In a time where the NFL is ruled by parity, the Patriots have won the Super Bowl five times since 2002. They’ve made it to the big game twice more.
Since 2000, the Patriots have made the playoffs 15 times. They’ve won their division every year since 2008.
That’s absolutely insane.
I know you all are thinking to yourselves – what does this have to do with this year’s Super Bowl?
Well, this year has been no different for the reign of the Patriots.
After offseason talks about going 16-0, the Patriots lost their first game of the season against the Chiefs in blowout fashion. Since that time, they’ve been same ole, same ole with timely defense, dominant offense and efficient special teams.
So let’s break down the matchup blow by blow.
I don’t mean to take anything away from the Eagles in this piece, because I think they have an amazing team. I know I’ve been harping on New England in this piece, but I do think this will be a close game.
I think the Eagles’ defense is going to give New England’s offense problems. I think their defensive front is going to be able to bring pressure right into Tom Brady’s face, which is going to rush some of his throws and cause inaccuracies.
But what helps New England offset some of that is that they’re a short passing team anyway. They don’t want Brady to hold the ball for long. They like to get it out of his hands quick.
I know New England doesn’t have overly prolific receivers, but I think offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is going to scheme up ways to get the ball to Cooks, Gronk, Danny Amendola and the rest of the weapons in the arsenal.
For as great as the Eagles’ defense is, they are vulnerable in the back-end, and I think Tom Brady is going to likely need a 300-yard game to give his team a chance, because I don’t see the Patriots having much success running it.
On the other side of the ball is where I give the Patriots the winning edge.
New England has a good defense, but they’re not a great defense. But coach Bill Belichick is arguably the greatest defensive mind in the game.
Given a bye week to prepare for Nick Foles and the limited Eagles’ offense, I think he’s going to have a winning recipe.
History shows that’s the case.
Since 2012, the Patriots are 12-2 when coming off a bye week. That includes their regular season bye week, the bye week earning in the Divisional Round of the playoffs and before the Super Bowl.
This year, New England has had two byes and they’ve responded by winning the following games by a combined score of 76-30, beating Denver in Week 10 and Tennessee in the Divisional Playoff Game.
The Eagles have a complicated, diverse offense that confuses defenses schematically so well that they’ve had success with two quarterbacks this season.
That’s unworldly good.
But I just don’t see any way that Nick Foles has a big day against a Belichick-coached defense when New England has an extended amount of time to prepare.
So with all of this talking now done, it’s time to give a score. I favor New England in a close, hard-fought game. Give me a final score of 21-17.
I think the Eagles lead 17-10 going to the fourth quarter and New England gets a field goal, then a game-winning touchdown with four minutes left to clinch the win – a pass from Brady to Cooks.
Foles has his chance to swipe it away, but comes up short, sealing the victory for the Patriots.
I’m not necessarily rooting for that to happen, but I wasn’t born yesterday, either.
New England is too good.
It’s next to impossible to justify betting against them in the big game.
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