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New England Patriots: 4 biggest advantages over Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII

By Kenneth Teape

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 31: Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots mascots are seen onstage before the JoJo Siwa performs at Nickelodeon at the Super Bowl Expereince during NFL Play 60 Kids Day on January 31, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 31: Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots mascots are seen onstage before the JoJo Siwa performs at Nickelodeon at the Super Bowl Expereince during NFL Play 60 Kids Day on January 31, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Nickelodeon) /
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New England Patriots: 4 biggest advantages over Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII
EDEN PRAIRIE, MN – FEBRUARY 02: Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots talks during the New England Patriots practice on February 2, 2018 at Winter Park in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The New England Patriots will play the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII on February 4. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Experience

Experience on the big stage is very important. The experience of a Super Bowl is unlike nothing else that a team experiences during the regular season.

For starters, media week is a circus. Players are grilled for hours on end, which throws their regular game week schedules out of whack. A 6:30 start time is something odd for athletes that are creatures of habit that start at 1 pm, 4 pm or in night games at 8:30 pm. Also, the game itself is different as halftime is longer given the show that is put on.

It is all things teams need to figure out and adjust to. There isn’t a team that has as much experience at it than the Patriots in the past two decades. Sunday will mark the eighth Super Bowl that Belichick has led New England into and they carry a big advantage in this area.

On their 53-man roster, New England has 32 players with 60 Super Bowl games worth of experience. The Eagles have seven players on their active roster who have won a Super Bowl. Two of them, Will Beatty and Dannell Ellerbe, played fewer than 100 snaps in the regular season and are backups. Two others, LeGarrette Blount and Chris Long, were on the Patriots last season.

At the end of the day, execution is what matters. However, knowing what to expect under the bright lights of a Super Bowl is a clear and distinct advantage the Patriots will have.

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