The New England Patriots are headed to their NFL-record tenth Super Bowl after surviving their seventh-straight AFC Championship game against the Jaguars.

They've been there, done that.

A lot.

They've been consistently winning for so long, I played on two different NFL teams that lost to Brady and Bellichick in the postseason.

I retired almost thirteen years ago.

Honestly, it's sickening.

So, do the green Midnight Green stand a chance in the big game, with their second-year head coach and second-string quarterback?

Believe it! The Philadelphia Eagles can win Super Bowl 52 because, offhand, I can think of three things they do better than the Patriots:



1. Philadelphia runs the football better than New England does. The Eagles were third in the NFL in rushing offense during the regular season, racking up 132.2 yards per game. The Patriots were tenth in the league at running it, averaging 118.1 rush yards per contest. Running the football effectively allows the Eagles to control the game clock. It's a big reason why they topped the league in time of possession this year. Powering the ball with running backs Jay Ajayi, Legarrette Blount, and Corey Clement will set up Nick Foles' play action passes and precision downfield throws.



2. Philadelphia is better at stopping the run than New England is. All year long, the Eagles have stood alone, atop the NFL as the best ground-game-stuffing monsters on the planet. Opponents scraped out only 79.2 rushing yards per game against Philly. Meanwhile, the Patriots were 20th in the league at stopping the run. Essentially, the Eagles are stouter, stronger, and nastier than the Patriots are on both sides of the line of scrimmage. To boil it down, big uglies win in the postseason and the Eagles offensive and defensive lines are significantly more gorgeously grotesque and pushy (in a good way) than every team they've faced this year.



3. I'm not gonna say Philadelphia game plans better than "greatest coach of all-time" Bill Bellichick does. I actually think it's sort of close, though. Doug Pederson and his offensive staff design and dial up wrinkles and surprises better than any staff under the sun. In essence, they break the mold, go for it on 4th and anything, succeed at the unexpected better than the more buttoned-up, tried, true and tested, traditional champs. Pederson's uncanny feel for playcalling is enhanced by his guts, his willingness to take chances. He is an unconscious play caller who's conscienceless-- and his "crazy" decisions seem blessed with football fairy dust. The Eagles do unorthodox better than the Patriots do.