FanPost

Ask a Pats Fan, Super Bowl edition!!!

Only about a week left until kickoff. Let's do this!

Let me get a few expected questions out of the way;

No, we are not anymore certain about Gronk playing than anyone else. I expect Belichick to keep his hand, like Brady's thumb, close to his hoodie-clad chest. We cautiously expect him to play but we won't know until mid or late next week, at best.

Yes, we hate the New York Giants more than the Jets. The Jets are that difficult lil bro that got us once 8 years ago in the Divisional Round. The Giants are the team that will give us nightmares and doubt any game is in hand until the clock hits zero. Do the Jets have a player easier to hate than Eli Manning? Divisional rival or no, nah.

Also, the dramalicious rumors about Belichick/Brady/Kraft? We aren't concerned. If this were Belichick's last year here, would McDaniels and Patricia really leave the chance to be BB's heir in New England?

Back to football! My keys for an Eagles win:

Eagles O vs Pats D;

The left side of the OLine. Really, all of their blocking outside of the excellent OC, RG, and RT, but especially the left side. Wisniewski isn't a bad LG and Vaitai has improved but I think you can expect to see the Pats 2 best pass rushers get a lot of action over there. Trey Flowers will be everywhere but I think Patricia would like to get him lined up over Wisniewski and James Harrison lined up over Vaitai when they really need to create some pressure. The Tight Ends, the Running Backs, I think the Pats will also try to isolate them in pass protection. The Center and rightside of your OL is obviously a much tougher challenge to create pressure against and through.

The consistency of Nick Foles. The Eagles have a lot of weapons and a running game. It's tough to say where Belichick would most like to contain the damage but I think it's fair to say that we are quite familiar with your ground game. One guy won 2 Super Bowls with us and the other is from our division. Ertz, Jeffrey, they too could be focal points of the Pats defensive game plan. I expect Foles to have opportunities to show he can do it in back to back weeks at a neutral field instead of at home in Philly. Won't be as easy to audible in Minnesota.

Eagles D vs Pats O;

Defensively, Philly may have its hands just as full as NE's D will. The strength of the Eagles D, being their legion of edge rushers, are going to face a daunting task. That's because the Pats Tackles are playing well despite being on their 3rd RT, their 2 inline-TEs are excellent blockers, their RBs chip in well, Brady's pocket presence, his ability to climb said pocket, and his ability to get the ball out quick. Physicality with the Patriots skill players will be key to disrupt the timing of their offense along with interior pressure. The Eagles can do the latter thanks to Cox and Jernigan but they will need to prove their ability to do the former.

While good CBs are important, against New England good center-fielders are even more important. The Eagles team that last beat Brady in Philly had 2 Safeties grading out as top-10 Safeties that year(per PFF), along with Mychal Kendricks, and Kiko Alonso playing ell at LB. The unit would appear to have taken a bit of a step back and that bares watching. While Kendricks is still playing at a high level in coverage, we will see if a 5'11 guy can cover a giant Gronkosaurus or if their other LBs and Safeties can defend against some of the quick passes and outside runs that I expect NE to try. We all know running inside at Cox and Jernigan is a fool's errand.

Miscellaneous;

New England ranks in the top-5 for most ST metrics whereas Philly has a more average ranking. While it may be cliche to say "mistakes must be limited", I feel that this is an area the Eagles should be especially concerned about. Can't let Pats STs help the Pats O, they usually don't need the extra help.

Coaching. Adjustments will be made. Eagles need to get creative. Jim Schwartz D's don't often fair well against Brady, got to disguise well and show a lot of looks. Also if there is a minute left before half time along with multiple timeouts, don't take a knee like the Jags did. You all survived years of Andy Reid's clock mismanagement, you don't deserve more of that stupid pain.

Enjoy these moments on the road, in the leadup to the game. One team will emerge victorious, the other defeated. At the end, as great of a game as it is, it is still just a game. Please don't run into any walls.

I can't wish you birds luck but I wish you all well. Feel free to ask any questions, point out anything that I missed, and enjoy your team's ascendance while the Giants fans watch from home.