Let’s get right to the point and say it all plain:
The New England Patriots will win Sunday’s Super Bowl. The Evil Empire gets Vince’s trophy, again.
I know, I know, is there an echo in here?
That’s the pick I made before the season started in a column that ran the first week of September and it’s the pick now. Gotta stay with it. I didn’t want to do it then, and don’t want to do it again. I grew up in a neighborhood about 20 miles south of Philly, I like cheesesteaks better than clam chowder, and have followed the Eagles for more than half a century, remembering fondly a long line of names in green from Chuck Bednarik to Bill Bergey straight up to Nigel Bradham.
“We know what we’re up against,” Bradham said the other day.
Yeah, the Eagles do and so does everyone else.
Don’t want to get all self-congratulatory over my selection, seeing that it was hardly a matter of hanging my butt out out over a ledge, picking Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. It seemed obvious to anyone with eyes to see and a lack of creativity.
The Patriots were exactly what most people thought they would be — the best team in the NFL this season. Does that guarantee a SB win in Minneapolis?
No. We’ll leave the guaranteeing to Philly receiver Alshon Jeffery, who, when asked about what the Eagles might do if they were to win Super Bowl LII, said: “Ain’t no if, man. When we win on Sunday, ain’t no telling what we’re going to do. But we’re probably going to … have some fun.”
Um.
Anybody out there think it’s a good idea for an opposing player to make that kind of statement in the run-up to facing the best coach and the best quarterback of this — or maybe any other — generation?
Not the way to bet.
There’s a lot to like about the Eagles, foremost their ample and able numbers along the defensive line, where they have regularly rotated players with fresh legs to make life uncomfortable for quarterbacks all season long.
If anyone was going to etch out a blueprint for beating Brady, that would be the best place to start — putting pressure on him without having to commit extra resources to the effort, letting the front four get into the pocket while dropping everyone else into coverage. Philly might be capable of doing that, and if it is, and if it does, the Eagles have a shot to make Jeffery a prophet. And that’s exactly what Philly defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is going to attempt to do on Sunday.
On the other hand, the last two times Brady faced a Schwartz-led defense, defenses with less-able players but with similar design, he threw for more than 300 yards and four touchdowns.
If Brady was good enough in the AFC championship game to have beaten the Jags’ defense, which is even better than Philadelphia’s, he can do the same in the Super Bowl. It took him a half or so to figure it out, but when he got around to it, the Pats offense could not be stopped when it mattered most, and New England’s defense rose up, too.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Over his career, Brady has led 42 fourth-quarter comebacks, eight of them coming in the postseason. Everyone remembers Atlanta’s 28-3 lead in last year’s Super Bowl and then … and then, Brady pulled off the greatest comeback in SB history.
Patriots owner Bob Kraft loved the comeback so much, he installed 283 diamonds in each of the Patriots’ Super Bowl rings to commemorate it.
If the Eagles find a way to get ahead on Sunday, it won’t mean much.
And if the Patriots take the early lead, they’re even more dangerous. In Brady’s time in New England, the Pats are 147-25 in games where they scored first.
Extending the reasoning to pick the Patriots from the numerical to the seemingly nonsensical, remember they are wearing their white jerseys. And when the Pats wear the whites in the Super Bowl, at least under Belichick, they are undefeated, and, according to ESPN, 12 of the last 13 champions wore white uniforms.
We’re all hoping for a great game, but the guess here is the ending will be similar to what we’ve seen before: The Patriots, dressed in white, with confetti on their heads.
Gordon Monson hosts “The Big Show” with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone.
Follow @GordonMonson