Super Bowl 52 matchup set: New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles

For the fifth year in a row, the two home teams prevailed in the NFL’s conference title games.

In the AFC Championship Game. the New England Patriots rallied to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 in a dramatic 4th quarter that had far too many similarities to a certain game played on February 1st, 2015. Tom Brady has a chance to win his sixth Super Bowl, and his second repeat.

Meanwhile, the NFC Championship Game was a true stunner. One week after the Minnesota Vikings’ miraculous win over the New Orleans Saints, they were favored to beat the Nick Foles-led Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. After scoring an opening drive touchdown, the Vikings gave up the game’s final 38 points, as the Eagles thumped Minnesota 38-7 behind a superb performance by Foles, who threw three touchdowns on the day.

Super Bowl 52 will be contested between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, thirteen years removed from the last time the Patriots attempted to win consecutive Super Bowls. New England won 24-21 over Philadelphia in Jacksonville, with Deion Branch (remember him?) winning Super Bowl MVP, and Terrell Owens having an outstanding game in a losing effort.

It is, of course, worth pointing out that the final home win of the 2017 Seattle Seahawks season was 24-10 against this very Eagles team, and that’s with Carson Wentz starting instead of Foles. It was arguably the most well-played game the Seahawks had this season, and it’s also a huge credit to Doug Pederson for how well the Eagles have managed themselves in Wentz’s absence.

On February 4th, 2018, either the Pats make it six Lombardi Trophies, or Philadelphia finally experiences Super Bowl glory on their third attempt.