On Feb. 4, all eyes will be on Minneapolis to witness the biggest sports event of the year: Super Bowl LII.
More than 100 million people are projected to watch Super Bowl LII between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots. The spotlight is all on them. Two teams. One game. So which team will come out victorious?
First off, there’s the Eagles. The underdogs. The team that hasn’t been to a Super Bowl since 2004 and hasn’t won one in its long history. Quarterback Carson Wentz lead the team to an impressive 11-2 record before going down with a torn ACL late in his Week 13 victory over the Rams.
Wentz was looking to be MVP. He had otherworldly stats and ran an unstoppable offense. The Eagles were nearly unbeatable as long as Wentz was at the helm. That is until Nick Foles, the backup, came in.
Foles went 2-1 in his final regular season games with decent numbers, save for his embarrassing 6-0 loss at home. Foles did have an elite season in 2013 as a backup quarterback when he threw 27 touchdowns, only 2 interceptions, and led the league with a 119.2 passer rating, according to the Ringer. He then went to the St. Louis Rams and was forgotten about until now. His stats as a Ram were very average, if not below average.
There are two Foles: dominant Foles and underwhelming backup Foles. He’s 2-0 this postseason and helped put up 31 of 38 points scored by the Eagles in the NFC Championship game win over the Vikings, so we could very well see dominant Foles.
Elite Foles has to come to play if the Eagles even want a shot. Philly’s defense demonstrated its aptitude by shutting down the powerhouse Vikings offense to only seven points. The game lies within the offense. It all lies within Foles.

And then there’s the big boys: The Patriots. The Pats are returning to the Super Bowl for the eighth time since 2001. Quarterback Tom Brady has won five of the seven he’s already been to, which makes him the widely-considered greatest quarterback of all time. His experience in the playoffs is exceptional, as he has played in over 30 playoffs games. Brady knows the atmosphere and how to win high pressure games when it counts. He almost never loses. Almost.
He has lost to the Giants twice. He almost lost to the Falcons last year. The Eagles have a chance if they fire on all cylinders, but giving any hope to Brady takes away almost all hope for Philadelphia.
The Pats Defense is weaker than past seasons, especially against the passing game. If the Eagles capitalize on this, they might be able to win. Above all, however, it’s capping Brady to as little time on offense as possible. It’s making sure the Greatest of All Time doesn’t get a chance.
It’s an inexperienced team full of first-time Super bowlers versus the experienced team of Super Bowl veterans. The Eagles are the underdogs; they have been all postseason.
Super Bowl LII will be the ultimate test.