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Philadelphia
Eagles set to fly over New England
Patrick
Hodgson
The phenomenon known as the Super Bowl is
approaching this Sunday and fans should
start getting ready because they are going
to be in for a real treat.
This
year's game features the defending world
champion New England Patriots and the Philadelphia
Eagles. The Patriots have their fans thinking
of a dynasty, now that they have a chance
to win their second straight Super Bowl
championship and third in four years. This
feat has only been accomplished once before
from 1992-1996 by the Dallas Cowboys that
featured All-Pro quarterback Troy Aikman,
rushing leader Emmitt Smith and the flamboyant
wide out Michael Irvin.
The
Patriots will be entering their fifth Super
Bowl in franchise history. In their first
two Super Bowl appearances the Pats got
thumped. They lost to the 1985 Chicago Bears
in Super Bowl XX and the 1996 Green Bay
Packers in Super Bowl XXXI. But that's ancient
history because the only current Patriot
to play on those teams was William McGinnest,
who played in Super Bowl XXXI against the
Packers.
The
current players on New England's roster
are best known for Super Bowl XXXVI when
they defeated the St. Louis Rams 20-17 thanks
to a game-winning 48-yard field goal by
the clutch-kicking Adam Vinatieri as time
expired.
They
are also remembered for the thrilling 32-29
victory in last year's game over the Carolina
Panthers, thanks to another game-winning
field goal by Vinatieri—this time
with only four seconds remaining on the
clock.
In
both games, quarterback Tom Brady was named
most valuable player. On Sunday, Brady will
be seeking a third MVP award, and if successful,
he will join Hall-of-Fame quarterback Joe
Montana as the only three-time Super Bowl
MVP winner.
New
England's challenger, the Philadelphia Eagles,
come into the game from a far different
path. The Eagles will only be in the second
Super Bowl in the franchise's history. In
their previous appearance, the Eagles fell
in defeat to the Oakland Raiders 24 years
ago in Super Bowl XV.
Philadelphia
comes into the game with 13 regular season
wins—a franchise record—and
a very hungry team that previously lost
three consecutive NFC Championship games
to the St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
and Carolina Panthers. They finally got
over the hump by defeating Michael Vick
and the Atlanta Falcons two weeks ago.
The
lethal combo of quarterback Donovan McNabb
and standout receiver Terrell Owens lead
the Eagles into battle. McNabb is attempting
to become the second black quarterback to
win a Super Bowl, and he is only the third
black signal caller to play on Super Sunday.
Doug
Williams is the only black quarterback to
have won a Super Bowl ring when he threw
for 340 yards and four touchdowns to lead
the Washington Redskins to a 42-10 victory
over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.
Williams was also named the game's MVP.
Steve
McNair of the Tennessee Titans had the opportunity
to win the championship game five years
ago but came up one yard short of victory
against the St. Louis Rams.
Owens
will be playing for the first time in six
and a half weeks after returning from a
broken leg. Owens participated in his first
practice on Monday since the injury. The
All-Pro wide receiver took part in a third
of the team's 30 plays run. Owens told reporters
during Tuesday's media day he intends to
play, "god-willing," and that
the leg is 81 percent—the same number
on his jersey. The Eagles could certainly
use his 77 catches, 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns
during the regular season to help make impact
on the field Sunday.
So
who is going to hoist the Super Bowl trophy
Sunday evening?
I'm
putting my money on the Eagles.
They
are ranked sixth in the league in passing
and the Patriots defense is ranked 19th
against the pass. That spells trouble for
the Patriots' cornerbacks, who are playing
undrafted players such as Asante Samuel
and Earthwind Moreland in place of three
of their starting defensive backs.
Who's
ever heard of these players?
Additionally,
New England uses a wide receiver, Troy Brown,
to play cornerback. That will not get the
job done against a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback
such as McNabb and a standout receiver like
Owens, even if he is not 100 percent healthy.
For
all the critics who think Owens will be
ineffective in this game, they should think
back a few weeks ago when Minnesota receiver
Randy Moss was about 60 percent and still
tore up the Packers' defensive backs that
are much better than the Patriots'.
Yes
it's true that Owens is not Moss, but Owens
has more desire to win than Moss and he
will display that desire Sunday.
I
expect the Eagles to take full advantage
of this weakness in the Patriots' defense
that will allow the Eagles to score quickly
and turn the match-up into a passing game.
What this does is take the Patriots' standout
running back Corey Dillon out of the game
plan and force Brady to beat the Eagles'
secondary that has three Pro Bowl players,
Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown and Brian Dawkins.
At
the end of the day, this scheme will be
too much for even Brady, who has never lost
in the playoffs, to overcome.
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