Super Bowl 52: Winner, Final Box Score Predictions for Eagles vs. Patriots

Super Bowl 52 between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots hits all the right marks. 

Thanks to one player's injured knee, this looks like something similar to a David vs. Goliath matchup. Even better, it's understandable if fans have a sense of deja vu surrounding the matchup—this is a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX, where Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens attempted to take down Tom Brady and the Patriots. 

Brady is still here.

This time the task falls on the shoulders of Nick Foles, playing in place of an MVP favorite while backed by an elite defense. And based on the lines from oddsmakers out of Las Vegas, this should be a close matchup regardless. 

2018 Super Bowl

Date: Sunday, Feb. 4

Location: U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis

Kickoff Time: 6:30 p.m. ET

TV: NBC

Odds: Patriots -4.5, Over/Under 48

The task sounds gargantuan for Foles, a backup who has suited up for three different teams before linking back up with the Eagles this year and attempted just 101 passes with a 56.4 completion percentage during the regular season. 

Foles not only has to stare down Brady on the opposite sideline but put a team on his back accustomed to Carson Wentz, the man who looked like the next big thing at the position with 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions before going down with an injury. 

Tall task or not, one major name didn't back down in his praise for Foles ahead of the game. 

"The guy's a good quarterback," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, according to ESPN.com's Tim McManus. "He's smart, he knows where his receivers are. He's very resourceful to work away from the rush, finds ways to throw, throws accurately. He makes great decisions in there, RPO [run-pass option] or check-with-me type of game. He's played great for them."

This is more than simple coach speak from Belichick, though more of the credit should fall on the shoulders of someone such as Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. His staff, highlighted by quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, used the end of the regular season brilliantly, adapting the offense to Foles' needs, and the result is the backup throwing three touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 77.8 percent of his passes over two postseason games. 

Not only is Foles firing the ball off fast and benefiting from smart option plays, he has an elite defense backing him that held Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons to one touchdown pass on 36 attempts in a 15-10 win, then held the Minnesota Vikings to a single touchdown in a 38-7 blowout. 

The Patriots, at least, seem to know the task ahead of them, as captured by Zack Cox of NESN:

While the Eagles defense is elite in the way it forces pressure and funnels the football where it wants it to go, even casual football fans know Brady is one of the rare players who can counterpunch with extreme efficiency. 

Brady, after throwing for 32 touchdowns and eight picks during the regular season, just led a comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC title game, doing so with a taped-up throwing hand thanks to a gash and mostly without leading target Rob Gronkowski. 

Many would argue the Jaguars have a better defense than the Eagles, though regardless of which side of the fence an observer lands on, Brady's dissection of Jacksonville on a 68.4 completion percentage with two touchdowns looked like business as usual. 

While this has been a fun season in terms of surprises and the quarterback position somewhat falling on the backburner as guys like Case Keenum helped teams achieve great heights, this Super Bowl matchup will come down to the most important position of all. 

There, Brady has the obvious advantage over Foles. He's coming out of a game against the Jaguars in which he tore through multiple coverages meant to confuse him, punished the defense for sending pressure and did most of it without arguably the greatest tight end in league history. 

Gronkowski is on the right side of a return for the Super Bowl now and will create mismatches the Eagles can't defend. And, like he did against the Jaguars, Brady will use his fine-tuned short passing game to an array of weapons at running back and otherwise to emulate a rushing attack to counteract one of the league's best rush defenses. 

Philadelphia is a team built the right way, with a peppering of smooth free-agent additions complementing a well-coached young quarterback. These Eagles aren't going anywhere for a long time, but they also aren't matching Brady in a Super Bowl with Foles under center. 

Look for this one to be close until the fourth quarter, where halftime adjustments will play a huge role in Brady figuring out how to dissect the Philadelphia defense on a key drive. 

	1	2	3	4	T
Eagles	7	7	7	3	24
Patriots	7	0	7	14	28

Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Odds according to OddsShark.