The time has come for the greatest game in American sports, the Super Bowl. What a creative name, created by former Kansas City Chief’s owner, Lamar Hunt, when he saw some kids playing with a super ball, and put that together with ‘bowl’ from the college bowl games. This simple name represents the culmination of hard work, perseverance, and grit throughout a season, and the two teams still standing at the end have this great opportunity to capture glory for their city and fans. This year the AFC Champion New England Patriots will play the NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles in US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are back for their 8th Super Bowl appearance in 18 years. They are 5 for 7 and have only lost to Eli Manning and the New York Giants, so the outlook for the Patriots is good. Tom Brady has his best-receiving corps since he had Randy Moss and Wes Welker. He has the best tight end in football in Rob Gronkowski, who dominates any defender and requires multiple tacklers to bring him down. Brady also has the speedster and star wideout Brandon Cooks, who the Patriots acquired via the Saints in a trade in the offseason. Gronk and Cooks had the 10th and 11th most receiving yards in the NFL respectively. To round it out, Danny Amendola, who had a two-touchdown performance, including the game-winner against Jacksonville in the AFC Championship game, is a great slot receiver that make big plays in big games. Don’t forget Dion Lewis, rated the 5th best running back in the NFL via Pro Football Focus. On the other side of the ball, the Patriots have a respectable defense with a bend-don’t-break mentality, that plays complementary to the star-studded offense.

The Eagles have a very different story at quarterback, with a backup in Nick Foles, that stepped in for the injured MVP candidate Caron Wentz with 3 games left in the regular season. With a couple of hiccups in his first starts, including the 6 points scored against the Dallas Cowboys, Foles bounced back and has gone on a tear through the playoffs, including an incredible performance against the best defense in the league in the Vikings in the NFC Championship. Foles and the Eagles threw up 38 points, making the Viking’s defense seem mediocre at best. Foles threw for 352 yards, 3 TDs, and had a 114-passer rating. If he replicates this performance in the Super Bowl, then the Eagles would defeat the Patriots and gain their first Super Bowl victory. The Eagles defense is phenomenal with the play of LB Graham, Pro Bowl DT Cox, CB Darby, and Pro Bowl safety Jenkins. If this defense plays like they did against the Vikings, then the Eagles will dethrone the Champs.

My Super Bowl pick is the Eagles over the Patriots with a score of 28-24. Fly Eagles Fly!!