The Philadelphia Eagles are on the verge of making history. All the Eagles have to do to finally bring the Lombardi Trophy to Philadelphia is get through Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Unfortunately, when many Philadelphia fans hear the words “Super Bowl” and “Patriots” in the same sentence, images of a fatigued Donovan McNabb or a disgruntled Terrell Owens often come to mind. Although it’s been 13 years, it feels like it was just a few weeks ago when the Eagles lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Patriots.
Fortunately, the Eagles are in a better situation this time around, and there are plenty of reasons to think this year is finally the year they win it all.
Here are a few key reasons the Eagles should win Super Bowl LII:
The New England Patriots allowed 4020 passing yards during the regular season, which was the third most in the league, and the Eagles are coming off a game where they put up 346 passing yards against the Minnesota Vikings, who only allowed 3078 passing yards during the regular season, the second-best mark in the league. Nick Foles should continue to build his already strong chemistry with Zach Ertz, Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor taking pressure away from the Eagles defense and running game. The strength of the Philadelphia defense has been the run defense, led by Brandon Graham, which has allowed only 156 rushing yards through two playoff games. If the Eagles are able to contain Dion Lewis and company, they will be able to drop extra men into coverage increasing their chances of taking Rob Gronkowski out of the game. Former Eagle Eric Rowe will be primarily responsible for covering Nelson Agholor. Through 135 coverage snaps from the slot, Rowe has allowed the man he was covering to haul in over 57% of the targets coming their way. He has also allowed opposing quarterbacks to a QB rating of 116.3 when targeting a slot receiver in his coverage. Nelson Agholor and Zach Ertz should be the primary beneficiaries of Nick Foles’ attention with Alshon Jeffery squaring away against Stephon Gilmore, and Malcolm Butler taking Torrey Smith out of the game.