It's the biggest game of the year! The New England Patriots (-4.5) vs the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Both teams went 13-3 in the regular season
- Philadelphia's Carson Wentz, 2nd year standout QB went down several weeks ago, being replaced by journeyman Nick Foles, who's career ranged from a young star with potential to career backup.
- Tom Brady is seemingly there every year with the ability to will his teammates to victory seemingly in the absence of physical advantages.
What to Watch For...
- Philadelphia has a more talented team, while this is absolutely subject to opinion, the Offensive and Defensive Lines of Philadelphia are more physically talented by a considerable margin.
Is Philadelphia going to be able to play to their strengths or will the Patriots have a game plan for their superior talent?
- One has to assume Belichick is going to game plan around this problem, I expect New England to attempt to take advantage of their running backs to catch passes out of the backfield and gain separation vs their Eagles defenders in man coverage...
- First thing to watch for... Will Belichick use his runningbacks to catch passes out of the backfield as a staple in the offense? Additionally, how will Philadelphia be defending these runningbacks, using their base Linebackers in man coverage or perhaps a zone coverage, or use a defensive back?
I believe this will be a necessity for New England to win the game.
- Second thing to watch for... How will Doug Peterson, HC of the Eagles, manage his offensive breakdown between passing and running?
- Does he go with pounding the ball with Jay Ajayi more frequently than he has in the past, despite acquiring the standout RB recently, changing the winning formula?
- Does he trust Nick Foles the journeyman with the superbowl on the line? A quarterback he determined at the start of the year not good enough to start for his team.
Philadelphia's offensive decision making will determine the pace of the game and ultimately the overall game experience.
Prediction!!!
Ooooo, it's prediction time! So, first and foremost, I don't know who's going to win, no one does. All I can do is look at the overall repertoire I have seen from each team so far and make my best guess based on my previous football experience.
The Eagles are a more talented team overall with more skill on the defensive side of the ball, offensive line, skill position talent, & special teams. I believe they would be favored if Carson Wentz was playing in the game, and Nick Foles might be good enough to get them through this game.
And I can be spectacularly wrong, where Tom Brady defies logic and gravity to will the Patriots to the most unlikely victory in the face of all odds, but thats the risk I am going to take. So I say...
Patriots do not have success running the ball and Brady's pocket collapses causing his throws to be errant and incomplete.
Eagles jump to an early lead running the ball with Jay Ajayi.
Patriots turn into a one dimensional passing attack however unsuccessful as the offensive line cannot keep up with the Eagles.
Eagles keep running the ball to use up the clock and each team have few possessions by halftime.
Eagles win 21-7
I hope everyone enjoys the game!
Looks like we both expected the defenses to step up and we would have a low scoring game. Instead, we had no defense and no tackling.
You successfully picked the Eagles to WIN. Good Job.
haha right!? The refs didnt throw any flags for holding and just let the O-line go gangbusters. I could swear I saw holds on most plays, but thats what happens when holding is legalized!
41-33 Congrats eagles
Since we're calling out the refs, I would throw several plays out there. I agree there was massive holding by BOTH Offensive Lines, on passing and running plays. I think the league preference was to have a high scoring game.
The Eagles received two touchdown calls in their favor:
The refs had nothing to do with the timid tackling by the Patriots defense. I thought I was watching a bullfight the way the Patriots defense failed to stop running backs and receivers. Ole, Ole, just letting them run by. . . Ole.
YESSIR, im happy i was not the only one thinking that was kinda a big deal!
@GOLDKEY, WTH was belichick doing with Malcolm Butler!!! WOW talk about arrogance!