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Can the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the New England Patriots in Superbowl
XXXIX to become the 2005 NFL Champions?
How the Philadelphia Eagles can win Superbowl XXXIX
There are two things the Philadelphia Eagles can do this Super Bowl Sunday
that will give them a shot to topple the defending champion New England
Patriots. These keys to victory are the Eagles’ only chance at winning the
Super Bowl and ending the Patriots’ near dynasty.
First, the Eagles need to ignore the advice I gave them last week to defeat
QB Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons. Last week I wrote, “The Eagles
defense is perhaps the best suited in the NFC to stop Vick. The Tampa Bay
Buccaneers have shown what it takes to shut down the Falcons’ offense:
contain Vick in the pocket and make him beat you with his arm.” Well, today
I tell the Eagles to force QB Tom Brady to roam and make him and his offense
beat you with their legs. Brady rarely gets out of the pocket to run down
field, and thanks to the formidable New England offensive line, he rarely
needs to. As we saw in the Pats’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and
every other big game in Brady’s career, if given time, Brady can sit back in
the pocket and choose any receiver in any spot on the field he wants to hit.
However, the lowly Miami Dolphins showed that when flustered and pushed out
of the comfort of the pocket, Brady is prone to poor decision-making with
his passes and multiple interceptions (he coughed up four against Miami in
the Dolphins’ 29-28 Monday night victory).
Rather than surround the QB from both sides as they did with Vick, the
Eagles need to push Brady outside and disrupt his rhythm. Unlike Vick or
Eagles’ QB Donovan McNabb, Brady is not a threat to run with the ball,
averaging only 0.7 yards a game. His longest run of the entire season was 10
yards, a paltry sum if you consider that McNabb averages 5.4 yards a rush,
and his longest run of the season was 28 yards. The Steelers two weeks ago
couldn’t put a finger on Brady and what did he do? The Colts were as close
to Brady as QB Peyton Manning was to the end zone, and you know the result
of that one. RB Corey Dillon is a great back, but if you shut down the Pats’
passing game, they cannot use Dillon to compliment Brady and his receivers.
Dillon is only a threat if the play-action is a possibility, but if Brady
doesn’t have time or protection, he becomes mortal and the Pats can be
beaten.
On the other side of the ball, the second key to victory for the Eagles is
their not-so-secret weapon, Brian Westbrook. Including their two playoff
games, the Eagles were a perfect 14-0 when Westbrook ran for and received
for more than 18 yards a game. Clearly he’s capable of a lot more than that
on Sunday, as Westbrook has the combination of speed and power to give the
Eagles a chance and to wreak havoc with the Patriots’ Cover-2 defense. With
or without WR Terrell Owens, Westbrook is the spark to the Eagles’ offense,
as shown in the second half of the NFC Championship Game. And if it’s not
Westbrook with the ball, McNabb has the ability to run on the Pats’ defense
much like he ran all over the Falcons two weeks ago.
Unlike Brady, McNabb thrives when he’s on the run and makes even more
incredible passes while scrambling than he does standing on his toes in the
pocket. For Philly to win, Westbrook and McNabb would have to total 160
rushing yards, a feat no duo of this kind came close to all season against
the vaunted Patriots’ defense. Owens can come back as a decoy or even for
plays in the red zone, but Michael Westbrook will be the one who carries the
Eagles to a Super Bowl if Philly can cash in on these two keys to victory.
Coming tomorrow…my Super Bowl XXXIX Picks & Analysis!
This article was written by one of our forum members JB17, a former
journalist. JB (Jason) has worked with NY Newspapers as an editor, reporter
& sports writer. He has provided some excellent football analysis for us on
recent games and his NFL picks have been right on the money.
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