Super Bowl LII Preview by Stuart Tomlin

“I have a dream, 

a fantasy,
to help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile.”

Bet you’d never see a Super Bowl Preview beginning with an ABBA lyric, but here we are.

Like most NFL rookies, the Super Bowl was the first NFL game I ever watched. Yeah, that is a sentence that sounds like it contradicts itself, but it’s true. Most of us getting into the game start by watching the Super Bowl. The very first Super Bowl I ever watched was with my Dad, and funnily enough, it was the New England Patriots against the Philadelphia Eagles, like it will be on Sunday. That was the beginning of our Super Bowl bets that would last over the next three years. The Colts winning our last bet eventually led me to supporting them. The following year, the Helmet Catch by David Tyree stopping the Patriots from getting 19-0 in Arizona. Since 2010, a Colts Super Bowl appearance against the New Orleans Saints – the “Ambush” onside kick, I’ve been going to the Dundee Student Union to watch the Super Bowl, the place I will be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday. The final Hail Mary attempt from Tom Brady at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis and falling just short, prompting my work colleague at the time to dive on top of me in celebration. The blackout at Super Bowl XLVII completely changing the tide of the game and my mate Tebowing in front of the screen to entertain people during the break. The ball flying over Peyton Manning’s head for a safety in Super Bowl XLVIII and it all going to absolute shit from the very first play for the Broncos, leading to a dominant Seattle victory. THAT interception on the goal line handing the Patriots Super Bowl XLIX, and making all of us wonder – why did Seattle pass on the one yard line? Cam Newton not diving for the ball and facing heavy criticism in Super Bowl 50, a bit harshly in my view but Denver’s defence giving Peyton Manning the right way to go out – on top. And of course last year: 28-3.

We all have our Super Bowl memories, of course. Whether you’ve been watching the game for 51 years or 1 year, we all have something to remember the Super Bowl by. But as we approach the 52^nd edition of the Greatest Show on Earth, the Super Bowl, it’s time to look at the two teams who will be playing in this year’s game.

And first, let’s introduce you to the American Football Conference Champions.

THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
First Seed in the AFC, AFC East Champions, 13-3

The Patriots are back again. Yaaaaaaaay. You can tell how excited I am to have them back in the game. The “Dynasty” shouts are once again in effect as the Patriots make their third Super Bowl in four years for the second time in the last fifteen years. And they’ve been to two others. They’ve been in the last EIGHT AFC Championship games back to back. Absolutely ridiculous form for the Pats in the AFC. Remember when they lost to the Chiefs week 1 and people predicted the Empire was crumbling? Or they lost to the Dolphins on Monday Night Football and people predicted the Empire was crumbling? Or when they briefly went down to the Titans and people predicted the Empire was crumbling? Or when they were down to the Jaguars in the AFC Championship by ten points and, well you get the point. People keep writing off the Patriots, and yet, they keep getting back here. Tom Brady has survived stitches and dog attacks (yes, this was a thing, and considering the Eagles have been calling themselves the ”Underdogs” this season), could well be a massive omen. The running game has lost LaGarrette Blount (more on him later), but has replaced him successfully enough with Rex Burkhead. Having lost Julian Edelman for the season, Tom Brady has managed to find guys like Danny Amendola, Chris Hogan and of course, Gronk. The Pats defence had a lot of questions about it but were successful in an impressive defensive performance in the AFC Championship against the Jags, especially in the dying seconds. The Pats are easy to hate, but must be respected as well. The Empire will be losing offensive co-ordinator Josh McDaniels (to my own Colts) and defensive co-ordinator Matt Patricia (to the Lions). One last ride for Brady and Belichick? Not a chance. They’ll probably be back here again next season, knowing the Pats. But for now, they go to Minnesota hoping to be the first time to win the Super Bowl title back to back since…themselves in 2003 and 2004. Yaaaay.

And now, the National Football Conference Champions.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
1^st Seed in the NFC, NFC East Champions, 13-3

The Eagles have made it to play the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, thirteen years after they made it to play the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Eagles were 10-1, absolutely dominant with Carson Wentz having an MVP esque year, until he went down with a torn ACL and ended his season. Offers to Wentz of ACL donations promptly went up in Philadelphia. It’s a real shame that Wentz will not be playing in the Super Bowl, as he’s one of the best young Quarterbacks in the game and it would have been brilliant to see him on this stage. In his place, Nick Foles, who after an amazing 2013 Season that saw him throw all of the touchdowns, including seven in one game, and just two interceptions, Foles’ career struggled in St Louis with the then-St.Louis Rams. Foles bounced around for a couple of years then returned as Wentz’s backup, before being called into action. Absolutely everyone and their Freezing Cold Takes (a great Twitter account to view btw) had the Eagles being one-and-done under Foles. That didn’t happen. Pretty much everyone had the winner of the Saints and the Vikings to go to the Super Bowl. After the Minnesota Miracle, it was surely going to be the Vikings playing the Super Bowl at home. It’s not. The Eagles dominated the Vikings in the NFC Championship 38-7. The Eagles traded for London-born Jay Ajayi (to give him his full name), and him and the aforementioned Blount (yep, he landed in Philly) have been superb along with Corey Clement. Alshon Jeffrey, while playing in Chicago, predicted before the season that his team was going to the Super Bowl and everybody laughed. I mean, I probably did. He was playing for the fucking Bears at the time. But nobody is laughing now. Jeffrey is in fact playing in the Super Bowl. Sure, it’s for the Philadelphia Eagles, but he was not wrong. Now, we’ll see if the other part of his prediction, actually winning the game, will pay off. There was a Twitter account dedicated to getting Nelson Agholor traded from the team. That account is probably feeling quite silly (and appearing in Freezing Cold Takes) as he has been phenomenal this season. The Eagles defence has been a brick wall this season led by Brendan Graham, Fletcher Cox and Derek Barnett. The secondary has been fantastic with Malcom Jenkins and Patrick Robinson having been brilliant this year. There’s no doubt – the Philadelphia Eagles fully, fully deserve to be here this season.

That’s your two teams that are playing in the Super Bowl. Now, here’s some PADDING for the article!

THE VENUE

US Bank Stadium
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Home of the Minnesota Vikings

Potentially my favourite non Colts stadium in the NFL, the brand new shiny US Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis will host this year’s game, and it’s an absolute belter of a stadium. I mean, when it’s not accidentally killing birds who fly into the glass. Hilariously, it sits on Chicago Avenue, a fact that has delighted Chicago Bears fans to the level of fans who bury their team’s jerseys underneath rival teams’ new stadiums. The Minnesota Vikings were a hair away from being the very first team to play the Super Bowl in their own stadium, a dream that was cruelly dashed in the NFC Championship as they were destroyed by the Eagles. The Curse of the Super Bowl hosts lives on. But it is an amazing stadium, having been built at a cost of $1.129 billion, opening in 2016, and a fitting sight for the Super Bowl.

THE HALFTIME SHOW
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

The Super Bowl halftime show this year features Justin Timberlake as the main act. Maybe he’ll bring on N-Sync, or Janet Jackson after THAT infamous halftime show. Alls I know is you can bet on his opening song (I’m going with Mirrors). Not sure about this choice, whether his show will live up to the last few years such as Lady Gaga, Katy Perry remains to be seen. One thing’s for certain: Prince will remain the greatest Super Bowl half-time show of all time. His performance of Purple Rain, in the rain, in Miami in Super Bowl XLI (the one the Colts won!) is the best Super Bowl half-time show ever.

I asked my Twitter following to predict the Super Bowl, and here’s the results:

43% New England Patriots

57% Philadelphia Eagles

A surprising pick in my view, the Eagles favoured by 57% of my poll.

PREDICTION:

Gonna go ahead and borrow this from the fan prediction article:

I’m rooting for the Eagles, not so much for a hatred of the Patriots which has gone down a bit in the last few years since my brother starting supporting them, but more that it’d be nice to see someone else win it, with the Patriots having won it two times in the last three years. Would also be nice to see the “No Lombardis” joke end for the Eagles. Unfortunately though, or fortunately if you’re a Pats fan, I can’t see past them. If Wentz had been playing, I’d have probably fancied the Eagles. Brady has been here before and done it before, and even though the Eagles have been amazing, I just can’t see past the Patriots retaining the Lombardi. 30-24 Patriots.

Well, that’s your Preview for Super Bowl LII. Hope you all enjoy the biggest game of the NFL year.

And as ever, Go Colts.