Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 1-23-18

Sports
Super Bowl: Eagles Vs. Patriots Game
Six Incredible Stats About The Patriots’ And Tom Brady’s Run
After a Championship Sunday that gave us one nail-biter and one blowout, the Super Bowl is officially set and it's going to be a re- match of a game we saw less than 15 years ago: Eagles vs. Patriots.
The Patriots punched their ticket to the NFL's biggest game by pulling off an improbable 24-20 win over Jacksonville. Of course, improbable is basically Tom Brady's middle name at this point, so maybe we shouldn't have been surprised by what he pulled off against the Jaguars.
The win over the Jags means that the Patriots are now headed to the Super Bowl for an NFL-record 10th time.
If the Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl for a sixth time, they're going to have to do something they've already done: Beat the Ea- gles.
The Eagles advanced to Super Bowl LII by destroying the Vikings, 38-7, in a game that was never close. With the Super Bowl in Min- neapolis, the Vikings had a chance to become the first team ever to play the game in
their home stadium, but the Eagles crushed those dreams in their dominating win.
The game between the Eagles and Patriots is a re- match of Super Bowl XXXIX, a game that the Pa- triots won 24-21. Oddsmak- ers aren't expecting this year's Super Bowl to be as close as that one as the Patri- ots have opened as a 5.5 point favorite.
For the Eagles, this is their third trip to the Super Bowl and they're still looking for their first win. Besides their Super Bowl XXXIX loss to the Patriots, the Eagles also lost to the Raiders 27-10 in Super Bowl XV.
When is the Super Bowl?
Super Bowl LII will be held on Sunday, Feb. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Min- neapolis, Minnesota.
This game will mark the second time that the Super Bowl has been held in Min- nesota. Back in January 1992, the Redskins blew out the Bills 37-24 in Super Bowl XXVI.
What time does the Super Bowl start?
The kickoff for Super Bowl LII is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
The New England Patriots have done it again.
The Patriots came back from down 20-10 in the fourth quarter to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 in Sunday’s AFC championship game. They have now reached the Super Bowl for the second straight year and third time in the last four seasons. In two weeks, they’ll be trying to win their sixth Super Bowl in franchise history.
The run of success the Pa- triots have enjoyed under the leadership of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick has been nothing short of incredible. Here are some amazing stats that will help put it in per- spective.
Two wild stats about the Patriots:
- The Patriots have now won their last four playoff games when trailing by 10 or more points.
Nick Foles Reportedly Undergoes X-Rays On Ribs After Win
NICK FOLES
Nick Foles played great in Sunday’s NFC champi- onship game, but he appar- ently did not escape unscathed.
ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reports that Foles underwent X-rays on his ribs after the Philadelphia Eagles’ 38-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
It’s unclear at what point Foles got hurt or took a shot to his ribs, but he was able to play well in the game. Foles was 26 of 33 for 352 yards and three touchdowns.
Between Tom Brady’s thumb/hand injury and Foles’ ribs, we’ll have no shortage of QB injury story- lines entering the Super Bowl. The good news is the teams will have a week off before the big game.
TOM BRADY
- The Patriots improve to 15-0 in playoff games against teams they did not face in the regular season since 2001 (12-9 against all others). The Patriots did not face the Ea- gles or Vikings during the 2017 regular season.
One about Bill Be- lichick:
- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will now coach in his 11th Super Bowl out of 52 in total. That's 21.2% of them.
And to hammer home how much of a master Tom
Brady is, take a look at these stats:
- This is Tom Brady's 4th career playoff win as a starting QB after trailing by 10+ points in the 4th quarter. No other quarterback in NFL postseason history has more than 1.
- Tom Brady is 4-0 against top 2 defenses in the playoffs.
- Most Super Bowls ap- pearances by a player:
8 Tom Brady
6 Mike Lodish^
5 (15 different players)
^ Lodish was a backup
defensive tackle who lost four Super Bowls with the Bills, then won two with the Bron- cos.
Brady and the Patriots are so good you almost always expect them to win close games late even when they’re trailing. Their run of success is unreal.
Referee Clete Blakeman Congratulates Tom Brady On Super Bowl Berth
Tom Brady is headed to his eighth career Super Bowl, and referee Clete Blakeman was one of the first on hand to congratulate him on the feat.
Blakeman was quick to offer the New England quar- terback his congratulations after officiating the 24-20 Pa- triot win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Given how many people think the NFL likes to see the Patriots win games like this, Blakeman’s actions will probably end up as conspiracy theory fodder for some, but it
looks like a referee congratu- lating one of the sport’s great- est-ever players. Besides, Blakeman has been involved in high-profile controversial calls that didn’t go New Eng- land’s way in the past.
Eagles Open As Biggest Super Bowl Underdogs Since 2009
Fred Taylor Upset With Officiating During AFC Championship Game
The Philadelphia Eagles are the biggest Super Bowl un- derdogs since 2009.
The Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas on Sunday in- stalled the Eagles as 5.5-point underdogs to the New Eng- land Patriots for Super Bowl LII.
Other sportsbooks went higher. The Wynn opened at New England minus-6.5, and Caesars Palace and Station Casinos each made the Patri- ots minus-6.
William Hill's Nevada book went a touch lower, with New England opening as a 5-
point favorite. The Super Bowl over/under was set at 47.5.
The Patriots will be look- ing for their second straight Super Bowl title and third in the past four seasons, when they take on the Eagles on Feb. 4, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
The betting favorite has won 33 of the previous 51 Super Bowls.
Philadelphia is the largest Super Bowl underdog since the Arizona Cardinals were seven-point underdogs to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII.
Jaguars great Fred Tay- lor was none too pleased with the officiating during the first half of the AFC championship game.
Jacksonville went into the locker room with a 14-10 lead, but all wasn’t good for Jaguars fans. Taylor, the franchise’s all-time leader in rushing yards, took to his Twitter ac- count to voice his displeasure with a couple of calls that were made, including this hit by Barry Church on Rob Gronkowski.
Taylor also responded to a couple of users, who dis- agreed with his opinions on the whistles.
On the same drive as
FRED TAYLOR Church’s hit that resulted in
a 15-yard unnecessary rough- ness penalty, A.J. Bouye was penalized for pass interfer- ence against Brandin Cooks that gave the Patriots excellent field position. New England scored a touchdown two plays later. Bouye’s penalty also looked to be questionable.
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2018