Patriots, Eagles ready for Super Bowl showdown
It’s going to be one game, one night. The New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles have set up a second Super Bowl showdown after both teams won their respective conference championships with contrasting victories last week. Reigning NFL champions Patriots defeated Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 in the AFC title game, while Eagles crushed the Minnesota Vikings 38-7 in the NFC decider to set up a the Feb 4 clash in Minneapolis. The Patriots will be making their 10th appearance in the title game.
New England enjoyed the upper hand when the two last contested an NFL title game in 2005. Overall, the teams have met 13 times through the years, with the Eagles winning seven of the games, the last in 2015. But tonight’s game is going to be a close one with plenty of fireworks from both sides.
The prediction is that Eagles will score 35 straight points just like they did two years ago in Foxboro. But the Eagles haven’t won a Super Bowl in franchise history. If they win, they will join the Giants as one of only two teams able to take down the mighty empire in the Super Bowl.
The player to watch is New England Patriots’ Tom Brady getting his sixth ring, despite an injured hand. He rallied New England from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter with two touchdown passes to beat Jacksonville. “It’s just been an unbelievable run,” said Brady, who will be making his eighth Super Bowl appearance with coach Bill Belichick.
For the Patriots, Brady is on the cusp of doing something no 40-year-old quarterback has done before. He’s also the top candidate to earn the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award, which would be his fifth.
Justin Timberlake will perform at halftime, while Pink will sing the national anthem before kickoff.
Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. The Super Bowl is among the biggest club sporting events in the world and individual Super Bowl games account for many of the most watched television programs in American history, occupying the all-time most-watched US television broadcasts. Television ratings of the Super Bowl have steadily increased over the years, with advertisers paying more than $3.5 million for a 30-second spot.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas casinos are joining the Tom Brady fan club, since their share of what is expected to be a record year for Super Bowl wagers will increase if the quarterback’s Patriots beat the Eagles. The defending champions are 4-1/2 point favorites heading into the National Football League’s championship game in Minneapolis, with the bulk of bets still to come in ahead of kickoff.