It is now late January and the Super Bowl is less than 2 weeks away. This years rendition of the game will be the 52nd version. The Super Bowls are known for using roman numerals that’s why it is Super Bowl LII instead of Super Bowl 52. The only game recently to not use a roman numeral was Super Bowl 50 because they thought Super Bowl L wouldn’t look that appeasing.

This years match up features the American Football Conference(AFC) champions and reigning Super Bowl champs New England Patriots and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles. This is a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX (39) back in 2005. The Patriots won that game 24-21. The Patriots have won two more super bowls since then with the quarterback coach duo of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The Eagles have yet been to a super bowl since and the farthest they made it up until this season was in 2008 season when they made the NFC championship game but lost to the Arizona Cardinals.

This is the Patriots record 10th appearance in the super bowl. They have won five and lost four, but they have only lost two with Brady and Belichick. They lost back in 1985 and 1996 in Super Bowls XX(20) and XXXI(31) without Brady and Belichick. They won Super Bowls XXXVI (36), XXXVIII (38), and XXXIX (39) in the early 2000’s. They lost Super Bowl XLII (42) and XLVI (46) to the New York Giants, they then proceeded to win Super Bowl XLIX (49) and LI (51) both on miracle plays or comebacks. Overall the last 18 or so years have been pretty good for the Patriots.

This will be the third Super Bowl for the Eagles. They lost both previous appearances in Super Bowl XV (15) and the already mentioned Super Bowl XXXIX. They have gone to six NFC championship games including 4 straight from 2001-2004. They went again in 2008 and obviously this season.

Both of these teams had great regular seasons. The Patriots had a bad first game but were still able to finish 13-3 and have the first seed in the AFC. The Eagles also finished 13-3 and have the first seed in the NFC, but their star quarterback Carson Wentz went down with a injury that put him out the rest of the season. Both teams had tough games and easy games on their way to the super bowl. The Eagles barely beat the Atlanta Falcons 15-10 in the NFC divisional round and the Patriots had to come from behind to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC championship game. Both also blew out an opponent as well the Eagles blew out the Minnesota Vikings 38-7 in the NFC championship and the Patriots blew out the Tennessee Titans 35-14 in the AFC divisional round. Overall this game will likely come down to if Eagles quarterback Nick Foles can put enough points on the board. Philadelphia’s defense is a good one and the Patriots struggled against another good defense in the Jacksonville Jaguars. If the Eagles’s defense does their job it will all be up to if Foles can have a performance like the one he had against the Vikings.

As a fan of the NFL I would love to see someone besides Tom Brady hoisting the trophy up again. I think this Eagles team has the ability to make that happen they just need Nick Foles to have a good game and the defense to do what the defense does. The only thing that is for certain though is don’t count the Patriots out until the clock hits zero, just ask the Falcons how that went.