This may finally be a Patriots' Super Bowl which doesn't come down to the last minute. While last minute heroics may be fun to watch when you know the outcome, they really do a number on you during the game. While I'm not saying this is necessarily going to be a blowout, it may be a bit of a ho-hum victory.
DEFENSE- We've heard about how great the Eagles' defense has been this year, but have they really been that spectacular? No, no they have not. They aren't very good in the red zone. As a matter of fact they are ranked 20th in the league while the Patriots are a solid 4. They also can't stop tight ends. So, Gronk may be due to finally have that big Super Bowl game he's been dreaming of.
QUARTERBACK- Assuming guys just complete their routes and Brady doesn't think he's getting a free play when Eagles' defenders maul our receivers down the field, the offense should be able to pick apart the Eagles defense. The Eagles may be good when they only have to stop one or two players, but the packed Patriots' roster will certainly give them nightmares.
On the other hand, Nick Foles isn't the type of player who is going to have a field day against the Patriots. Especially not with a decent amount of tape and two weeks to prepare. When it comes to where he wants to throw the ball, Foles' favorite place to go is the right sideline. While he was successful at it early in his career, the right sideline hasn't been too friendly in recent years. Nevertheless, Foles still goes there twice as often as any other location. Early on he was also pretty successful throwing up the middle, this season he's only completed 44% of those passes.
FIELD POSITION- As always, the Patriots dominate field position. Yes, they may make some strange in game decisions with the sole purpose of flipping the field that leave us scratching our heads for a moment or two, but two minutes later we are once again praising Belichick and wondering how we could have ever allowed ourselves to doubt him. Today field position will play a big part. In addition to giving Brady a short field, our special teams unit will be putting Nick Foles on his own side of the field. Although his sample size from back there isn't very large, it is telling. Foles' completion percentage from inside his own 20 is 37.5%. Inside his own 21-50 it's just 51.2%.
On the other hand, Nick Foles isn't the type of player who is going to have a field day against the Patriots. Especially not with a decent amount of tape and two weeks to prepare. When it comes to where he wants to throw the ball, Foles' favorite place to go is the right sideline. While he was successful at it early in his career, the right sideline hasn't been too friendly in recent years. Nevertheless, Foles still goes there twice as often as any other location. Early on he was also pretty successful throwing up the middle, this season he's only completed 44% of those passes.
FIELD POSITION- As always, the Patriots dominate field position. Yes, they may make some strange in game decisions with the sole purpose of flipping the field that leave us scratching our heads for a moment or two, but two minutes later we are once again praising Belichick and wondering how we could have ever allowed ourselves to doubt him. Today field position will play a big part. In addition to giving Brady a short field, our special teams unit will be putting Nick Foles on his own side of the field. Although his sample size from back there isn't very large, it is telling. Foles' completion percentage from inside his own 20 is 37.5%. Inside his own 21-50 it's just 51.2%.
COACHING- Obviously having Belichick, Patricia and McDaniels on our sideline gives us a huge advantage over any coach. About all you need to know about Doug Pederson is that he is part of Andy Reid's coaching tree. Throw in the fact that the huge halftime intermission is like a bye week for Bill and the coaching advantage is almost insurmountable.
WHERE I LIVE- Yes, I'm superstitious and do have an effect on Patriots games. For every Patriots Super Bowl other than against the Bears, I've lived in Massachusetts for all of the victories and in Missouri for all of the losses....
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