With the Super Bowl quickly approaching, anticipation is building around the world. The Super Bowl sits on a throne alone; more than 111 million people watched the big game last season. This insane number makes the Super Bowl the most watched sporting event ever in the USA. Many people will be tuning in on Feb. 4 when the Eagles and Patriots clash in Minnesota.

The Patriots won the AFC after they made a terrific 4th quarter comeback led by Tom Brady. Brady and the Pats outscored the Jaguars 10-0 in the final 8:44 of the 4th quarter. The comeback marks Tom Brady’s 42nd 4th quarter comeback in his career. Brady is behind only Peyton Manning for all-time career comebacks. One of Brady’s many comebacks came last season in the Super Bowl vs. the Atlanta Falcons. After the  trailing 28-3 with 8:31 left in the 3rd quarter, the Patriots scored 31 unanswered points leading to their stunning 34-28 victory. Can they do it again?  Not if the Eagles have anything to say about it.

The Eagles punched their ticket to Minneapolis by dismantling the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship. The Eagles embarrassed the Vikings by a score of 38-7. Minnesota entered the NFC championship game as the top ranked defense in the NFL — only giving up 15.8 points per game prior to the NFC championship. The Eagles refused to let the Vikings defense scare them, and the Nick Foles led offense hung 38 points on Vikings.

After the knee injury to Carson Wentz many people gave up hope on the Eagles. Without Wentz the Eagles were rare home playoff underdogs, not once, but twice. “A backup quarterback can’t possibly lead a team to a Super Bowl.” This was the opinion of many football fans across America. Nick Foles had a message for his haters. No, he did not go on a rant in an interview. Foles simply let his play do the talking. The backup turned superhero completed 26 out of 33 passes for 352 yards, against the best defense in the the NFL.  Foles will have the chance to prove his doubters wrong once again on Sunday.

The key to the game for the Eagles is to make Tom Brady uncomfortable. This task is much easier said than done.  Brady is protected by one of the best offensive lines in football. Additionally, the perfect balance between run and pass that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is able to incorporate makes it near impossible for pass rushers to pin their ears back to get after Tom Brady.  We have already seen examples of what Tom Brady is capable of when he can drop back and pass with little to no pass rush. If the Eagles cannot pressure Brady, they have no chance of winning this game.

The key for the Patriots will be stopping the Eagles running game. After the knee injury to Carson Wentz, Eagles head coach Doug Peterson has been forced to lean on his running backs much more than usual. If the Patriots are able to stop the run game of the Eagles, it could be an unpleasant night for the Philly faithful.  

Students at NHS are also buzzing in anticipation for this big event. Austin Schumacher and Tyler Schraven both agree that the Patriots will win because Tom Brady is simply better than Nick Foles. Although both think that the Patriots will win they will be jumping on the Eagles bandwagon on Super Bowl Sunday.  Mason Mecham will be riding with the underdog Eagles. Although the Patriots are currently favored to win by 4.5 points, Mecham says that the Eagles will win because their defense will be able to slow down Tom Brady and the Pats offense.

Not only do Neenah students have an opinion on who will win the game, but Amazon Alexa and Siri have even made their picks for the big event. Alexa will be taking the Eagles, while Siri is playing it safe and going for the Patriots.

The only team that has bested the duo of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl has been the New York Giants. The Giants were strong on the defensive side of the ball and had a sound running game on offense. The Giants teams that have beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl are built similarly to this Eagles football team. Will Philly be able to do what the Giants were able to do to the Patriots? Or will it be Tom Brady on top once again? What do you think? You can see how this matchup unfolds on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 5:30 p.m. on NBC.