Eagles Can Bully Their Way to a Super Bowl LII Win by Leaning on Jay Ajayi

Philadelphia Eagles running back Jay Ajayi is a man filled with surprises.

It was surprising when, after plummeting to the fifth round in the 2015 draft due to injury concerns and a chronic knee condition, Ajayi finished fourth in rushing (1,272 yards) during his first full season as a starter in 2016 for the Miami Dolphins. The highlight of that year was when he became just the fourth running back in league history to post three 200-plus-yard rushing games in the same season. 

It was just as surprising when he sputtered to begin the 2017 season, going 138 carries without scoring through seven games with Miami. Being traded at the deadline and scoring a 46-yard touchdown on his fifth carry for the Eagles surprised us again.

Now, he's positioned to provide one last surprise of the 2017 season. Ajayi is the perfect power running back to exploit a weakness in the New England Patriots defense and lead the charge toward an upset in Super Bowl LII.

Though the line has fallen since the Super Bowl matchup was first set, the Eagles are still 4.5-point underdogs, per OddsShark. Their pass-rush-fueled defense will play a major role in an upset bid. Stud tight end Zach Ertz will, too, as the Eagles offense tries to match the Patriots' firepower.

But the task ahead for the Eagles is rooted in the combined physicality of their defense and rushing offense. The latter has to thrive and complement the former, and for that to happen, Ajayi should be a focal point.

He's gradually been elevated to that status during his nine games with the Eagles, including the playoffs. The 24-year-old has recorded 696 yards from scrimmage since debuting with his new team in Week 9.

That average of 77.3 yards per game glows a little brighter when his decreased playing time following the trade is factored in, and we remember Ajayi didn't hit double-digit carries with the Eagles until Week 14. He's still waiting on his first 20-carry game, but that hasn't stopped the British-born back from being an offensive catalyst during the postseason.

Ajayi made his playoff presence felt immediately, as ESPN Stats & Info noted during the Eagles' divisional-round win over the Atlanta Falcons:

His brief and uncharacteristic bout with fumbleitis appears to be over, as Ajayi had 21 touches without coughing it up during an AFC Championship Game rout of the Minnesota Vikings.

The Eagles led the league in time of possession throughout the regular season and controlled the ball for an average of 32:41 per game. If they get even close to that number again Sunday, Patriots quarterback and MVP candidate Tom Brady would spend the equivalent of one half sitting and waiting. He would be anxiously watching from the sideline, a place where Brady can't complete any passes because that's a) really difficult and b) illegal.

By dominating the ball, the Eagles would also be beating the Patriots at their own game to some extent after New England finished inside the NFL's top third in average time of possession (30:37).

The image of a helmet-less Brady has to be a recurring theme for the Eagles to have a shot at the franchise's first Super Bowl win. A mismatch in the trenches is there to pounce on, as the Patriots had the league's 20th-ranked run defense during the regular season (114.8 rushing yards allowed per game), and the Eagles fielded the third-best rushing offense (132.2 yards per game).

The Eagles' strength grew stronger with the addition of Ajayi, the 6'0", 223-pound runner who fits well into the one-cut downhill attack deployed by head coach Doug Pederson. LeGarrette Blount is the wrecking ball in that approach, while Ajayi is the standard though still punishing hammer.

Ajayi is a bruiser, and his thundering ways alone could lead to plenty of first downs and a constantly churning clock against the Patriots. He routinely dances around or powers through tackle attempts (much more often the latter), which is how Ajayi became the league's third-most elusive running back during the regular season. He finished with 27 missed tackles created, according to Pro Football Focus.

Michael Perez/Associated Press

Ajayi also thumped his way to an average of 3.41 yards after contact per attempt, good for fourth in the league just behind Blount's 3.49. As PFF's Michael Renner noted, the combination of Ajayi and Blount gave the Eagles two of the top five running backs in yards after contact.

But Ajayi has set himself apart with an added element that's made him a multi-threat option and even more capable of chipping away at a Patriots weakness.

Suddenly, Ajayi is a pass-catching weapon out of the backfield. He'll still never be mistaken for, say, Dion Lewis, his counterpart on the Patriots who has recorded 111 receiving yards on 16 catches over only two playoff games. But in a short time, the Eagles have unearthed a playmaker who's comfortable in space and turning downfield fast after quick screens.

Ajayi has sprinted ahead for two 30-plus-yard catches already with the Eagles, one of which helped set up a critical fourth-quarter field goal against the Falcons:

During his breakout 2016 season with the Dolphins, Ajayi recorded 151 receiving yards in 15 games. Now, over just nine games in Philadelphia, he's caught 16 passes for 161 yards (10.1 yards per reception).

That's significant because the Eagles are trying to win the Super Bowl with a backup quarterback, and Ajayi can move the offense forward in multiple ways that don't involve repeatedly asking Nick Foles to be accurate deep downfield. He fared fine in the NFC Championship Game while averaging 10.7 yards per attempt. But going back to that well too often can end in misery.

That shouldn't be a problem, though, because the foundation of the Eagles offense has been quick throws and well-blocked screens, an approach the Patriots defense will likely struggle to contain. New England ranked 22nd while defending pass-catching running backs and allowed an average of 54.2 receiving yards per game to the position during the regular season, according to Football Outsiders.

In the AFC Championship Game, four members of the Jaguars backfield combined for 98 receiving yards, which included two chunk gains allowed by the Patriots for 24 and 20 yards. During the regular season, the Patriots lost just three games, and we saw a similar scorching by a pass-catching back during their most recent defeat when Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake erupted for 79 yards on five receptions and 193 yards from scrimmage.

If you close your eyes and picture the final box score from an Eagles win in Super Bowl LII, it surely shows Brady was sacked a handful of times. It also likely shows a game when Foles was careful with the ball and didn't throw an interception.

Then a little further down, it shows Ajayi led a backfield that gobbled up the space created by an overpowering offensive line.

There just might be an image of a jubilant Ajayi above the box score as well. In it, he's surrounded by a sea of green and white, some of it from the celebratory shirts handed out right away and some from the confetti.

Ajayi is at center stage in that image, too. Why? Because amid the happy chaos of the celebration, the MVP is one of the first players interviewed.