Just a few more days – Sunday the Super Bowl is finally rising between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles! Before that, SPOX gives readers the stage: How can the patriots stand up to the strong D-line of the Eagles? What makes New England so strong in critical situations and which players can make the difference? In a special mailbag edition of his weekly column, editor Adrian Franke answers the reader’s questions, and Super Bowl LII will be available on the 4th. February from 11.45 pm live on DAZN – optionally with German and original US commentary!
Marcel Maier: How should the Patriots play the strong defensive line of the Eagles? Outside runs because of Cox and fast passes to protect Brady? And how should one act defensively against Ertz and the strong running backs and especially against the strong coaching of the Eagles?
Outside runs can also quickly become a problem if the Interior Line is not able to withstand them – so that moves can be destroyed before they even develop. The patriots have to do what they always want to do against a strong defensive line: control the game over the passing game and force Philadelphia with the No-Huddle-Offense in combination with Pre-Snap-Movement to make quick adjustments and unfavorable matchups.
The good news for the Pats here is that New England’s offensive line is much more stable compared to the blocking-debacle at the playoff-off against the Broncos 2015 – Philly’s task will be more complicated on the Line of Scrimmage than in the Championship Game against the Vikings.
And defensive? Two central aspects:
Niklas_Cage: Who is the player who can make the difference for Philly – especially if Foles can’t keep his form from last Sunday and is again the lowest mediocrity. Agholor? Ertz? And why is that?
My first answer would be Fletcher Cox, who has to dominate the line of scrimmage in the center to give the Eagles a chance. But since the question is more about the offense: As a single player I would point out Zach Ertz.
New England’s linebackers had their hard work in coverage against Jacksonville, and Ertz offered a spectacular match against the Vikings, including Harrison Smith. Putting the tight end into advantageous matchups and establishing it as a fast and safe option for foles can be a central aspect for the Eagles. If patriots Patrick Chung turn off Man Coverage for Ertz, that would be a possible key duel.
SousaWillis: With the Eagles, Foles is certainly named as the clearest predetermined breaking point or X-factor. Where do you see the equivalent in the Pats?
The question is a wonderful continuation of the previous one – if we want to name a negative X-factor for the Pats, that would be the linebackers for me. In the first half of the game there were always coverage breakdowns against Jacksonville, and here Philly can attack with Ertz, Agholor and of course in the Run Game with his two power backs. This is all the more true if New England, as I suspect, has to flash to create pressure against Philadelphia’s offensive line.
Joni Soprano: Why are patriots so much better at critical situations than the rest of the league?
Here, of course, experience plays a role as well, which cannot be denied. New England’s experience in the most critical moments of the biggest games is a huge plus, whether we’re talking about coaching, play-calling or, of course, players on the pitch. For years now, New England has been extremely good at reliably fulfilling its own tasks and waiting for the mistakes of its opponents or provoking them. And they keep coming back at critical moments.
You can measure better what makes the Pats so powerful in a playful way – and that is of course above all Tom Brady. This is where several factors come together: On the one hand, Brady’s purely sporty development, and at a high footballer age, he has made further visible progress in terms of pocket behaviour and downfield passing. On the other hand, his understanding of the game.
Here, Brady’s better than any quarterback. If other quarterbacks on the Line of Scrimmage are limited either by their coaches or their abilities (or a mixture of both aspects), New England is also available in the most critical 2-minute drills – to name just one example – the complete playbook.
And what’s more: New England’s offense has been built up in such a way for years that a quarterback like Brady can cause even greater problems for a defense. In short, the Erhardt-Perkins Offense is a hybrid of various systems, combining different route combinations under generic terms.
The offense can run the same play from different formations and announce different layouts from the same formation, while running backs, tight ends and wide receiver pre-snap move interchangeably across the course. This causes matchup problems on the side of the defense and since Brady and the offense can do all this from the No-Huddle-Offense, the defense is fast and again and again in desolate positions and matchups before the snap takes place.
NiceGuysSanktPauli: Do you see the patriots as far ahead as the bookmakers? After all, a strong front seven combined with a big play offense seems to be the only way to beat New England.
The Brady-Belichick factor is of course enormous for bookmakers. Would you try to create a starting unit from the offenses and defenses of the Patriots and the Eagles – how many pats players would you have? Brady, Gronk, Amendola, Lewis and McCourty? Maybe Gilmore? What I’m saying is: The Eagles are in my opinion the better and more complete team, seen as a whole.
But this fact can be overridden by Brady and Belichick, in a way we have seen exactly that against Jacksonville. The Jaguars-Defense is individually superior to the Patriots-Offense, but the quarterback-factor cannot be weighted together with the rest.
So Philly can beat the patriots: Interior Pressure without Blitzing, a good deal of man coverage as well as pass defense matchup answers in Zone and Man for Gronkowski and the Running Backs. Then the Eagles will have a chance to stop New England’s offense at least halfway and possibly create one or two turnovers. But it’s also clear: Anything less than 20 Patriots points would be a big surprise for me against this defense, and so the Eagles-Offense will also have to score.
This is where the bookmakers come in: Pederson’s offense designs this season were brilliant, but now Belichick has two weeks to prepare for it. I reckon with an aggressive patriot defense, which in turn will lure foles into traps and thus force them to make mistakes. And this prospect, with the clear increase of the Pats-Defense in the second half of the season in the back of my mind, also makes the patriots look like favourites.
Page 1: Who makes the difference? Where are the weak points? What makes the Pats strong?
Page 2: Breakthrough in New England? New patriots quarterback? And the receivers?