Predictions, comments thoughts are welcome.

I think it will be close, but the Pats win 27-20.

I figure it will follow the same general lines as many of the Pats games. 1st half will see a slight advantage to the Eagles. Near the end of the 2nd quarter, through on-the-fly adjustments, the Pats will have a small flourish, but will be behind by one or two scores at the half. During halftime, Belicheck (sp?) will make the necessary defensive adjustments which will grind the Eagles' O to a near stand still. His offensive adjustments will spur the Patriots' O and Brady n' Company will have the offense running like a well oiled machine by mid 3rd quarter.

In short I agree the final score will be close (touchdown or less), but I don't think the Eagles will pose any true threat, even in their one score loss to the Pats.

That said......I hope Philly proves me very wrong. GO EAGLES!!!!!

The Patriots will no doubt find a way to cheat, am I right, Ed?

I'm watching the Puppy Bowl this year.

http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/puppy-bowl/photos/puppy-bowl-xiv-starting-lineup/

No new ways at least.

I heard during the powderpuff bowl pro bowl yesterday that the same officials working the pro bowl were working the superbowl. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about when certain players were barely touched they were ruled down while others seemed to be allowed to take much stronger hits and not be called down...

NFL $5,000,000 per 30 seconds

Why would they need to try?

Brady always plays at a higher level when he is mad.

Did Belichick put the reporter up to making a dumb comment about his kid?

Brady will distract the refs while Gronk (with the figure four leg lock on Foles) grabs the bottom rope for leverage

LOVE the Puppy Bowl. My husband said he would adopt Moonshine in a heartbeat.

and we'll all have a good laugh when Matt "The Animal" Patricia tries to eat the stuffing from a turnbuckle

I learned last week that New England has never scored in the first quarter of a Superbowl in the Brady-Belichick Era. They're 7-2 in those games...

I just don't see any way that NE doesn't win. They're too experienced and I think Matt Patricia/Bill Belichick will eat Nick Foles alive.

That said, if Philly can get some pressure and not have their defense on the field for 90-whatever plays, they've got a chance. They play really loose and seem to be having a lot of fun playing.

Also - I hope Philly wins. Can't stand NE.

This.

The only reason that I would ever cheer for the Eagles is if they were playing the Patriots. I really dislike both of them.

But I expect the Patriots to win.

We should be discussing Super Bowl snacks. That would be more interesting.

Will the trend of political/social issue ads continue during the Superbowl? I expect to see #MeToo, something related to DACA and/or racial justice, maybe income/gender inequality. Don't get me wrong, these are all issues that need to be addressed, but I don't know if the Superbowl is the best forum.

Super Bowl snacks: "Cheat Days" are not just for the Patriots.

I'd take Vaughn!! He's (she's?) DARLING.

#FakeNews The entire officiating crew for the Super Bowl is different than the crew from the Pro Bowl. Walt Anderson was the referee for the Pro Bowl. Gene Steratore is the referee for the Super Bowl.
http://www.footballzebras.com/2018/01/18/walt-anderson-referee-2018-pro-bowl/
https://nflcommunications.com/Pages/Super-Bowl-LII-Officials-Names.aspx

They will if the NFL deems them to be helpful to the NFL. They did reject a Vets group paying for an ad in the Super Bowl program urging people to stand during the National Anthem.

humor is so over rated, no?

Eagles defense has been solid in their two playoff games, yielding a total of only 17 points. But their offense has been inconsistent. Which offense will show up?

Not a Patriots fan (although I give them a lot of respect for what they have accomplished in the age of parity), and I'm not rooting for them, but I am rooting against the Eagles. Been a Cowboys fan for too long to ever root for the Eagles.

I'm a Falcons fan. As the two representatives bounced my team from the last two playoffs, I should hope that a black hole appears and swallows Minneapolis on Sunday night. Still, I lived in the Philly area for four years, and have friends there, so I'm hoping for Eagles to win. Plus, I'd rather see a team that's never won a Super Bowl (Eagles) win one over a team that has won multiple Super Bowls.

The Eagles have a strong defense, particularly along the line, but the key will be whether they can move the ball on offense. If the game is close, I give Brady and Belichick an edge over Foles and Pederson. I hate that Wentz is not playing in this game.

Beech, are you as beyond sick as I am of all the hater talk all these years later?

Nah, I enjoy the salty tears of Happy, Ed, and all the others. I can understand. I feel the same way about the Yankees. I felt that way too about the Steelers in the 70s, the 49ers in the 80s and the Cowboys in the 90s. I'm just glad we get a time at the top of the mountain. It was a lot of years of heartbreak and frustration before 2001.

I endorse this hope!

I didn't cry when Old Yeller died, certainly not crying about hand-egg-ball...

And yet you watch the PowderPuff Bowl for the professional hand-egg-ball league. The most useless game they play.

well, it was on as background noise during a birthday celebration for my MIL since one of my BILs is in about 37 different fantasy leagues and had to see how we was doing...not really sure I would consider that watching...

I do not care who wins or loses the battle of the ungrateful millionaires, so no tears here.

For someone who doesn't care, you sure do post a lot about it. Just sayin'.

Ed is clearly an angry Jets fan.

There must be one of them but it is not me.

Maybe it's just me and my personality but if anyone's else's "team" did what the Patriots have done these last several years, I'd be happy for them (the team and my friends who like that team) and be impressed that they've taken it so far. I would not find fault, blame everyone and everything under the sun as an excuse for their success (and continue to relentlessly talk about it year after year after year), discount the talent that team has and I would definitely not tear the team nor their fans down on a regular basis like Patriots fans have had to deal with and listen to for so many years. Off my soapbox. Done. For those that will watch Sunday enjoy. And I wish both teams luck in the big game.

well said P*Q!

Or ... perhaps, some people just like "poking the bear" to get a rise out of others that consistently play right into their hands. As a Vikings fan I've never been on the other side so this is purely speculation on my part.

As a homegrown Packer fan, I can only hope that you will never have to experience it either.

Football is not very high on my priority list but I do know a few Patriots fans who in my opinion are the worst fans I know, besides a few Lakers fans. Once you know a few bad fans it's hard not to lump everyone else in that group (human nature). I am not a Pats fan but I do have some serious respect for Brady and his skills. Much of society today suffers from "crab mentality" which I have to admit I fall into sometimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality

May the best team win.

oh no, hate away, anything goes with sports

you whine, complain, hate, whatever it takes to show that you fully support your team

there is no requirement that anything be based on fact, rooting for your team is often just gut feelings

for example, my favorite baseball team is whoever is playing the Cubs because the Cubs and their fans are evil in my opinion.........which is all that matters

it is...

Some of us are not a fan of any specific team but like to see a good game (without cheating of course)

damn Peepers, philosophizing (to quote Bill & Ted) on sports. Excellent (another Bill & Ted quote)!

Thanks Tink. No one else thinks so but I honestly don't care. So I say whatevah! All I hear is blah, blah, blah, all I've heard for yours so I've grown quite accustomed to it! May it be an exciting game and may the team who plays best come Sunday win!

I meant years, my edit function hasn't worked properly in years....

I just want both teams scores at the end of all four quarters to end in a 7. I'll win $7,000 if that happens

7 is a good number for football pools. I always get rotten numbers like 2 or 6.

Maybe it's just me and my personality but if anyone's else's "team" did what the Patriots have done these last several years, I'd be happy for them

Deflating footballs that cause them to lose the best QB in the history of football for 4 games, draft picks and $$'s?

So saw earlier someone reference the Super Bowl as the Eagles vs. The Refs, lol.

I hear there is an Eagles dossier, paid for by Brady.

You are just as bad as the Rams continuing to whine about losing to the Pats in 2001. Let it go. You will feel better.

or the Pats fans losing to the Giants 2X

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/tom-brady%E2%80%99s-prewritten-nfl-mvp-award-speech-gets-accidentally-leaked/ar-BBIAAxR?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=ientp

Does he know something we don't?

muwhahahaha..bill belecheat is at it again...

As I said previously Ed, whatevah.

I stopped watching NFL when Peyton retired. It has freed up a lot of my time. I still watch my beloved Crimson Tide on Saturdays, but Sundays are mine again.

Just wondering if Nick Foles used Brady's MVP speech?

Ed, bless your heart, it was the League MVP award acceptance speech, not the Super Bowl MVP award. Brady won the league MVP, by the way. Given that he was widely acknowledged as the favorite to win that award, it would have been stupid not to have had the acceptance speech prepared. Especially since he would be having Julian Edelman deliver it for him since the award took place Sat evening.

Hats off to the Eagles and Doug Pederson. Showed a lot of intestinal fortitude to call some of those plays. They did not let up and took it to the Pats..

The Pats D was awful. No controversial calls, no refs favoring the Pats. Very exciting game and the best team won.

he needed to write this down?

“He said one thing for me to say, he said, ‘LFG,’” Edelman said. “I don’t what it means, but he said, ‘LFG.’”

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/02/tom-brady-nfl-mvp-edelman-award-lfg-patriots-super-bowl-52

"The Pats D was awful"

you have been saying that a good part of the year.

Perhaps they should have traded Jimmy G for some defense help.

Perhaps Butler should have played. May have made a difference.

I didn't expect to for the D to be that bad.

Eagles played a great game. And even then, the Patriots had a shot at the end for another miracle comeback. At the end of the day, 31 teams finish the season disappointed that they didn't make it further. As TB said above, Pederson made some very gutsy calls and his team delivered. They deserve the win. We'll be back in the hunt next year.

As per Bill " the greatest coach" he was not played as it gave the pats a greater chance of winning.

A loss like that when your QB put up numbers like Brady did I do not think that one player on defense who struggled during the season would have mad a difference.

Pats gave up ridiculous chunks of yardage on 3rd down due, in part, to poor tackling. Could have made a difference.

There wasn't a great deal of defense to be seen by either team. More total yards at the half than you'll see in many complete games. Hard to imagine Brady throwing for 500+ yards in a losing effort, I'd have never bet a penny on that. Like TB said, clean game with no controversial calls, though I was surprised the first replayed catch wasn't overturned. All in all a fun offensive game to watch.

i think there were a number of controversial calls and no calls...certainly 2 touchdowns that had almost identical looks during regular or post season where they were overturned but not in the superbowl. a clear pass interference on the last 2 point conversion try by the eagles right in front of 2 officials...when running down for the hail mary Gronkowski clearly shoves a defender out of the way right in front of an official, again not called...quite a few offensive holding calls by both teams that were not called...

i think the NFL has a lot of work to do in the off season to ensure that the officiating crews are consistently calling penalties or games the same way. they need to take the subjectivity out of the calls. a catch is a catch or it isn't, the entire makes a football move, controls to the ground, is he a receiver or a runner, ground can't cause a runner to fumble but it can a receiver...all lends itself to controversy. i think all helmet to helmet is a penalty, no matter how it happens. they need to fix that. in subsequent games the Pats lost key players to a "legal" helmet to helmet hit.

and most of all, fix these horrible superbowl halftime shows...that was so lame...

Happy, I assume you're talking about the Zach Ertz touchdown. I will disagree that they were identical. Jesse James caught the ball with his knee on the 1 yard line and in the process of going down reached his arms across the goal line where he lost control when the ball hit the ground.

Zach Ertz caught the ball on the six yard line, tucked the ball to run with it, took two and a half steps and then lunged toward the end zone with arms outstretched. In that situation, he was clearly a runner and it was a touchdown immediately when the ball broke the plane of the end zone. Anything that happens after that is irrelevant.

I thought Jesse James' call was close - if I were making up the rules it would have been a touchdown because he caught the ball and had control (even if only for a second or less) and purposefully lunged across the line. But I didn't think the Ertz call was even close and they got it right. He clearly established himself as a runner before the ball broke the plane.

SB Nation has a great piece on this with video of both, one above the other: https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2018/2/4/16972328/zach-ertz-td-eagles-patriots-super-bowl

Should the rules make a distinction between those two situations? I personally don't think so but that is what the rules currently are. Under those rules, I think you can make an argument that the Jesse James call was wrong, but I don't see any way the Ertz call should have been undone.

That was hands down one of the most exciting Super Bowls I've ever watched. It may be one of the most exciting games, for that matter. Both teams were incredibly competitive for the entire game and both had a shot to win right down to the very end.

Notable stats from the game:
Brady threw for 505 yards, 3 TDs, no picks.
3 Patriots receivers went over 100 yards receiving
There was only one punt.
Two missed PATs and a missed FG.
Over 1,100 yards of total offense
First receiving TD by a QB in SB history.

What a game. Oh and that hit on Cooks - totally legal because he was a runner at that point, but my goodness. He got crushed.

so you are suggesting that Tom Brady is the master of time?

Some children learn to count backwards from 40 in Kindergarten or first grade. The NFL not so much.

Some learn grammar in grade school. Some do not.

Some compliance people condone cheating, some do not

apparently Brady didn't shake Foles' hand after the game..............and there are photos of him mooning Foles from the tunnel

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

Almond Joy has nuts, Mounds don't...

Other than the Rams-Titans SB this was the best one I've seen. I saw both TD's and I thought they were both catches but due the announcers and the general brain damage regarding what is/isn't a catch, I thought one or both would be overturned. I'm glad that the Ref decided he shouldn't be responsible for picking a winner and let players play. I know others may disagree, but it doesn't matter now.

I think they were both catches, but I was surprised they weren't overturned given the inconsistency with the call over the last few years as Happy noted.

the decision of whether it was a TD or not is not made by any of the on-field officials, but the replay guy sitting in a remote booth...normally in NYC, but actually in Minneapolis that game...but still in some dark corner somewhere. really don't know why they need on field officials at all, all can be done remotely from cameras, which tend to get more calls correct than the guys in the zebra stripes

there's no telling how much the Patriots will cheat if the on field refs are removed

I think cheating would be less because they can't influence an official who is not in front of them, just a camera and some guy (or multiple guys) reviewing various video feeds.

Just wondering if they have any experiences with video cameras.

https://triggeralert.net/2018/02/05/patriots-to-fire-referees-loss/

It is the internet so it must be true (not)

For the clock thing, there are a number of situations that change the play clock from a 40 second clock to a 25 second clock. Some of those events can even occur in the middle of a clock countdown. I would suppose that one of those events occurred and the play clock was reset to 25 seconds. The referees don't typically announce those to the audience.

For the shaking hands thing - see http://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/02/tom-brad...k-sportsmanship You don't know what goes on behind the scenes. The field is a madhouse after the game and the players know there will be time to catch up later. I've never heard one single NFL player say Tom Brady is a bad sport.

Both QB's threw for over 500 yards and USA Today was one of the first to run the story of lack of handshake and now a positive spin on it?

If they needed to put a negative spin on the game they could have wrote about the defense or lack of one.

"I've never heard one single NFL player say Tom Brady is a bad sport".

I have never heard that either (a cheat but not a bad sport)

with the prevalence of flu going around, I can't blame Tom Brady for not shaking hands. the CDC suggests not touching anyone or anything unless absolutely necessary to avoid contacting anyone carrying the flu virus. Good for TB to be looking to keep everyone healthy. He is just a misunderstood guy.

Josh McDaniels stated that the top two reasons he stiffed the Colts were:

1) not wanting to up root his family
2) you can get away with cheating much easier in New England

The did not cheat in the SB this time they just let the Eagles win, so there was no need. Giselle is more trustworthy than Tom and Bill.

this is where clear procedures need to be in place, assigned, and followed. It is pretty obvious that everyone thought someone else had communicated the wishes to the officials and assumed communication was made and the fix was in. the results of the game clearly shows that it did not occur. I'm sure a thorough review of procedures is already underway.

Happy,

I don't understand why you continue to watch football. For years we have heard you complain about how much you dislike it (soccer is your game) so why do you torture yourself?

and torture us.

#lifegoals

A most excellent question....and for the love of gawd, when the h*ll is everyone else going to stop about the Pats. It's beyond nauseating at this point and not remotely funny anymore, regardless of how a select few thinks it is. It's not, it's old, way overdone and used, give it up, let it go....

clearly I'm in to pain and suffering

McDaniels' agent left

at least it seems like Patricia has kept his word so far

You all should know by now that you can't take Happy seriously. I mean, he likes his steak well done for crying out loud!

#LeatherIsNotJustForWearing

man didn't invent fire to eat raw meat - Plato

The cooking of meat, or lack thereof, shows the quality of the man. Real men cook their food well, those with Oedipal complexes don't - Freud

"I learned how to cook a steak the proper way, medium rare, by watching a youtube video" - Abraham Lincoln

There is a fine line between well done and raw.

But back to the main topic: It was a good game. I enjoy a game that goes down to the very last play. Granted it was a long shot, but it was not clinched until the clock hit 0:00.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/eagl...&ocid=ientp

Don't blame me I am just reporting this stuff

For those with comprehension issue:

Qo', jIHvaD pIch ghoD neH ja' jIH

and now for something completely different

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/49er...&ocid=ientp

The 49ers agreed to sign the 26-year-old quarterback to a five-year, $137.5 million contract on Thursday, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the largest average-per-year contract in NFL history.

Madness. Madness!

This is the most intelligent post you have ever made.

and yours

Worst Defense Ever

I have had that since September.

Only because you can't change it any more.

Good point. It is still applicable, however.

Google is too funny...google "owner of the new england patriots".

looks like the Colts found their coach

maybe it's a good thing that they didn't get one from the Belichick cheating coaching tree

Interesting-looks like the Eagles left more in the referee collection plate than the Patriots did last Sunday for this non call....


https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NFL/2018...pt=rrs&or=5

Could also be that Mike Pereira is in cahoots with the Patriots or merely looking at the play at a bad angle (most likely)

Where's the eye roll emoji again?? Oh that's right. That's FB and text and everything else. My bad.

from what I read, Philly WR checked with the line judge to see if he was ok, line judge said he was, apparently this happens during games

Pereira mentions that it's a judgement call for the line judge but then says it's wrong

can a judgement or opinion be wrong?

Can you imagine the outcry if the Pats ran that and got away with it?

"Good Evening.I am David Muir, welcome to ABC Nightly News. Tonight's lead story-the New England Patriots are at it again......"

Please don't take this as complaining or thinking the Pats lost because of this non call. Eagles took it to them and beat them up. Just thought it was an interesting article.

Ed, you may resume your predictable Belecheat comments.

oh, for sure it's different for the Patriots

they play by a different set of rules.....mainly their own

My bad-clearly an unbiased source debunks the other article.

like this one better?

https://247sports.com/nfl/philadelphia-e...cial--115068780

Torrey Smith heard former NFL Vice President of Officiating Mike Pereira's comments on the "Philly Special" after the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl victory. Pereira said the play shouldn't have counted because the Eagles lined up in an illegal formation.

Alshon Jeffery checked off at the line with side judge Jerry Bergman before the snap, which Bergman ruled it okay. Smith confirmed that on the SportsRadio 94WIP Morning show, explaining the communication between receivers and officials in the moments before the play was snapped.

Nope