MINNEAPOLIS -- Our football coverage team offers its predictions for Super Bowl LII between the Eagles and the Patriots.
Feel free to share your own in comments.
Dale Lolley: Experience can matter in a game like this and the Patriots have a big edge in that. But the Eagles are accustomed to playing the underdog role and won't blink. They have a very good running game and a defense that is capable of getting after Brady. I picked against the Eagles in both of their previous playoff games because I didn't think Foles would be able to get the job done. I'm not doubting him any longer. The Patriots have never blown an opponent out in a Super Bowl and I don't think that happens here, either. Philadelphia's use of run-pass options will keep New England's defense on edge and that could be the difference. This game opened with the Patriots favored by 5 1/2 and the line has moved to 4 1/2, meaning the sharps in Las Vegas think the Eagles can win. So do I. Eagles, 26-24
Christopher Carter: The Patriots have been pulling off close comeback after close comeback over the past two seasons and face another team that has a strong ground game with a tough defense. The Eagles have been riding the wave with their backup quarterback and they absolutely have a chance to win. But the Patriots are a defense that wait for you to revert back to your primary threats on offense and the Eagles are eventually going to resort to their running game when the going gets tough. The Eagles need to pull out all the stops and take to the air in those moments to beat Belichick, but they’ll probably play not to lose and wind up playing into the Patriots’ hands. Patriots, 20-17.
Matt Sunday: I know three things about the Super Bowl: Tom Brady wins them. The NFC East wins against the Patriots. Justin Timberlake will absolutely have some kind of guest during the halftime show, despite every effort to say it’s a solo act. Despite having a chance to see three West Virginia players I have covered in my career win a Super Bowl, and despite the entirety of Pittsburgh hoping the Steelers remain on top of the Super Bowl wins column, I like Tom Brady in the end. Patriots, 33-24
Audrey Snyder: Nick Foles won't play like he did in the NFC title game, but with this Eagles defense he won't need to. At some point the Eagles defense will make a game-changing play to swing what should otherwise be a very tight game. I like the Eagles' ground game and both teams have elite tight ends who should get a lot of targets. I'm not so sure the Eagles will have an answer for Rob Gronkowski, but still Fletcher Cox and this pass rush won't give Tom Brady too much time to find him. Of all the years where it would make absolutely no sense for the Eagles to win it, I have a strange feeling this is it. This is their year. Eagles, 30-27
Dejan Kovacevic: I haven't accepted that New England's had a championship-level defense from the season's opening kickoff, and I won't accept that it's improved much in the interim. I have accepted that Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski can overcome a lot of ills, which is how the Patriots are right back in the main event for the millionth time. That leaves, obviously, a lot of middle ground. And I'll fill that ground by looking at this exceptional, physical, snarling Philadelphia defense and presume they'll do what others couldn't: Get to Brady. If they do, the rest won't matter. Eagles, 31-30