WASHINGTON — Super Bowl LII is going back to the future.
The Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots are meeting in the Super Bowl in Minnesota … 13 years after squaring off in the Big Game in Jacksonville. How’s that for symmetry?
Eagles fans better pack those dog masks with their parkas because Philly has already been installed as a 5.5-point underdog, the biggest margin for a Super Bowl since 2009. Part of that is the one-sided Tom Brady vs. Nick Foles QB comparison, but the other component has to be the Patriots enjoying the easiest path to the Super Bowl in modern NFL history.
Can New England complete the greatest run in NFL history by winning a third Super Bowl in four years for the second time? Or, will Philadelphia finally give their long-suffering (and stunningly inept) fans their first Super Bowl victory?
We have two weeks to kick that around. For now, let’s recap Championship Sunday.
Eagles 38 Philadelphia was right to lube their light poles: Nick Foles had the game of his life just a day removed from his 29th birthday, throwing for 352 yards, 3 TDs and amassing a stellar 141.4 QB rating against the best defense in pro football. The Eagles join the division rival Giants (1990) as the only teams to have a starting QB win 11 starts and advance to the Super Bowl without him … and given this stunning result, I’m not sure I’m ready to bet against them to don dog masks and complete the task like Jeff Hostetler’s Giants did. Meanwhile, poor Minnesota … they go from Seven Heaven to only seven despite looking really good on their opening drive. The vaunted Vikings defense choked hard at the worst possible time, ending their shot at becoming the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium and instead becoming the first team in NFL history to lose multiple conference championship games by 30+ points. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Patriots 24 As if there were any question, Tom Brady reminded us again why he’s the G.O.A.T. Tom Terrific shook off a fluke hand injury, the loss of Rob Gronkowski to a head injury, an 11-point deficit and the league’s best pass defense to throw a pair of 4th quarter TDs, including a highlight reel game winner. That’s got New England headed to their second-straight Super Bowl, third in four years, and NFL-record 10th in franchise history. Do Patriots fans even celebrate conference championships anymore? Even though Jalen Ramsey’s mouth wrote a check Jacksonville couldn’t cash, the Jaguars have nothing to hang their heads over. Blake Bortles played the game of his life in the most important game of his life, and the upstart Jags just got outplayed by the greatest dynasty in NFL history. Jacksonville is already one of the teams to watch out for in 2018. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
