It is Super Bowl week, football fans! Are you anxiously awaiting the biggest game of the year between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles like I am? Or maybe you just can’t wait to see Justin Timberlake at halftime. Either way, there will be a winner to the game and we at Sconnie Sports Talk have different ideas of what is going to happen on Sunday night.
Some of us think the Patriots will win their sixth championship.
Eli Weiner: Patriots win 27-20.
Nick Osen: Patriots win 24-20.
Alec Schmitz: Patriots win 27-17.
Bryan Jackler: Patriots win 31-23.
Mason Murphy: Patriots win 31-27.
Lucas Johnson: Patriots win 27-17.
Brennan Mullins: Patriots win 31-21.
Some think that the Eagles will earn their first Lombardi trophy.
Luke Schaetzel: Eagles win 21-17.
Quinn Lynch: Eagles win 24-20.
Jared Lagenohl: Eagles win 23-21 on a Jake Elliott field goal.
Hayden Nollenberger: If Foles doesn’t have an absolute meltdown, I think the eagles will win by 14+
But here is my prediction.
Philadelphia’s defense is underrated and they can apply a lot of pressure to Tom Brady (the 40 year old who is trying to fight Father Time). They can force Tom into throws. But New England has already faced arguably the best defense in the league in the AFC Championship. The Jaguars were able to hold Tom until the fourth quarter. The Patriots (thanks to Danny Amendola) were able to overcome a 10 point deficit against one of the league’s best defenses without Rob Gronkowski. Gronk is expected to clear concussion protocol and be a go for the Super Bowl.
Philadelphia’s offense could exploit New England’s defense. The Eagles have three capable and versatile running backs who can catch passes out of the backfield. The Patriots defense has struggled with screen passes and that could be Philadelphia’s key to victory with Nick Foles at the helm. The Patriots secondary has vastly improved since the beginning of the year but their linebacking core has struggled since Dont’a Hightower went down early in the season.
But the thing that really sways this game for me is the experience. Tom Brady will be playing in his eighth Super Bowl on Sunday. Nick Foles will be starting in the third playoff game of his career. The Patriots have a future a Hall of Famer, Bill Belichick, at head coach who has lead his team to a championship victory five times already. The Patriots were just in the Super Bowl and won it last year. And I think they will win back-to-back Lombardi trophies on Sunday.
Score: Patriots 31, Eagles 24