Super Bowl 52: Eagles vs. Patriots will be won in the trenches

Super Bowl 52 will have many key positional matchups, but the battle in the trenches will ultimately decide if the Eagles or Patriots take the crown.

The matchup Super Bowl LII is set, and it includes the No. 1 seeds from both conferences. The Philadelphia Eagles will represent the NFC and the New England Patriots will represent the AFC. Both teams finished 13-3 in the regular season.

The Eagles had a spectacular season given their record from 2016. Many critics believed they could be in playoff contention, but few had them making the Super Bowl. Philadelphia was sharp on both sides of the ball all season, finishing in the top 10 in both total offense and defense. Carson Wentz was having an MVP type season before tearing his ACL in Week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams. Nick Foles has stepped in nicely for Wentz, leading them to a 4-1 record in the five games that he’s started, including two in the postseason.

While the Philadelphia offense has been spectacular overall, their defense has carried them this season, especially their defensive line. The Eagles rotate eight defensive linemen regularly, keeping them all fresh for the entire game, which is important in the fourth quarter. They have four defensive linemen with at least five sacks, and three with eight-or-more tackles for loss.

The Eagles defensive front has caused problems for opponents throughout the playoffs, especially defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. The former first round pick has really emerged as the second best at his position in the league behind Aaron Donald. He was in the face of Matt Ryan all game in the Divisional Round, and continued his stellar play against Minnesota in the NFC Championship.

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Defensive end Brandon Graham and tackle Timmy Jernigan have also been stars. Graham broke out last season for the Eagles and continued his dominance this season, becoming one of the best run stopping defensive ends in the league, and also contributing 9.5 sacks. Jernigan was traded to Philly this offseason for a swap of third-round picks. He has been a terrific pickup for the Birds, as he had nine tackles for loss this season. Jernigan has been a nice complement to Cox, and has provided Philadelphia with a scary 1-2 punch on the interior of their defensive line.

For the Patriots, Tom Brady and company continued right where they left off last year on the offensive side of the ball. Brady arguably had his best season yet (even at 40 years old), throwing for 32 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. The quarterback has been very sharp in the playoffs, throwing for five touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 67.2 percent of his passes.

Brady is at his best when he has time to throw, and it has shown this season. He’s only been sacked three times this postseason, all coming in the AFC Championship against Jacksonville. He was under pressure early and often in against Jacksonville, but their offensive line settled down and gave him time to throw. In the second half, Brady picked apart the Jaguars defense, leading them to the Super Bowl berth.

The Patriots offensive line played very well in the last half of the season. They came out of the gate slow in 2017 as Brady was sacked 10 times in the first three games. They have since kept their leader relatively upright, however.

The key to Super Bowl LII is going to be the battle in the trenches, especially the Patriots interior offensive line versus Jernigan and Cox. New England’s interior offensive line is rather undersized, as center David Andrews is under 300 pounds, and their two guards, Joe Thuney and Shaq Mason, are 305 and 310 pounds, respectively.

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Stopping — or slowing down, rather — Brady starts with getting pressure up the middle and not allowing him to step up in the pocket. In both of Brady’s Super Bowl losses, the Giants made Brady uncomfortable, and the Eagles have the players on their defensive line to do the same.

Shutting down Cox and the Philadelphia defensive line will lead the Patriots to victory. If they cannot contain the Eagles front-four, however, look for Philadelphia to pull off the upset.