My Super Bowl 52 prediction

This year’s Super Bowl stars the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots.  It’s also worth mentioning that this is a rematch of Super Bowl 39; a game where Tom Brady and the Pats defeated Donovan McNabb and the Eagles.  Actually, I vividly remember this game.  The score was tied after the end of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quarter.  New England pulled away in the 4th quarter and ultimately won the game by a score of 24-21 (NBC is hoping for a game that close again on Sunday).

Some might suggest that conventional wisdom favors the Eagles.  Because the Patriots are trying to do something that is very hard to do and hasn’t been done in a long time: repeat as world champions.  In fact, the last team that had the opportunity to do this was the Seattle Seahawks.  They won Super Bowl 48 and then returned to Super Bowl 49, but they lost to the Patriots.  Furthermore, one might propose that the Eagles are poised to win because they are so hungry to bring a Super Bowl victory celebration to Philadelphia for the first time ever.

Despite all this, I’m going to pick the Patriots to win Super Bowl 52.  Think about some of the dynasties of the NFL: the 1970’s had the Pittsburgh Steelers; the 1980’s had the San Francisco 49ers; the 1990’s had the Dallas Cowboys.  The current dynasty is the New England Patriots.  What they have been able to accomplish is remarkable.  I could mention several statistics on their dominance in recent years, but I think it’s amazing to consider that they have earned a trip to three of the last four Super Bowls.  My gut tells me that New England is going to find a way to win on Sunday and further bolster their current dynasty status.

 

Furthermore, every time you think the Patriots are about to defeated, they pick it up a notch and prove you wrong.  It happened against the Steelers back in December when Pittsburgh had the lead late but couldn’t keep it.  The Jacksonville Jaguars were ahead for most of the game in the AFC championship game, but ended up losing it.  And of course, in last year’s Super Bowl against the Falcons, the Patriots were down, but certainly not out.

I recently watched the last few minutes of a Madden video game on You Tube simulating Super Bowl 52.  Interestingly, in that simulation, the Patriots were down by 3 late in the 4th quarter only to have New England’s offense march down the field, and tie the game with a field goal to send it to overtime.  New England ultimately won the game 33-27 on a Tom Brady touchdown pass.  It may not be an overtime game, but I suspect that Super Bowl 52 will be a lot like that simulated game, with New England hoisting the Lombardi trophy.

Kevin