Tom Brady and Patriots inspire ‘awe’ across the NFL

ATLANTA — The New England Patriots are favored to add to their Vince Lombardi Super Bowl trophy collection and cement a place in NFL history as a modern-era dynasty.

The Patriots (15-3) will play the Philadelphia Eagles (15-3) in Super Bowl LII at 6:30 p.m. EST Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

With a sixth Super Bowl title over a record 10 appearances, the Patriots can tie the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most in the Super Bowl era.

The Patriots would leave behind the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, who have five Super Bowl titles each.

The Eagles have won three NFL titles (1948, 1949 and 1960) but are 0-2 in the Super Bowl era.

“Like everybody else, I sit back here and marvel at the Patriots,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said last week during a break at the Senior Bowl. “(In the AFC championship game) they are down 20-10 in the fourth quarter, and they get the ball taken from them, but yet you still feel like they are going to figure out a way to pull it out. (Quarterback Tom) Brady, (coach Bill) Belichick and that group are tough to beat. It’s a big challenge for Philly.

“I’m looking forward to a real interesting game.”

The Atlanta Falcons, one of the 10 franchises to never win a title, know all too well about the Patriots’ ability to come back from the supposed dead. They had them down 28-3 in Super Bowl LI before Brady led a rally and the Falcons collapsed in overtime 34-28.

“What can you say, whether if you are a general manager or a fan or whatever, you can only be in awe of what New England and their quarterback do in crucial situations when their backs are against the wall,” Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead said. “Somehow they come through, Tom Brady comes through. You have to give credit to that organization.”

What has made the Patriots unique during Belichick’s tenure is his ability to craft weekly game plans and pounce on the weaknesses of the opponent.

“They are very versatile,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “When Philly gets into the game with all of the scouting that they’ve done, there will be some new wrinkles on both sides (of the ball).

“We call those un-scouted looks. … When you are playing New England, it may be one plan for one game and it looks a lot different for the next team. That’s one of the strengths of their club.”

This will be the Eagles’ third appearance in the Super Bowl but first for their current regime. The Eagles reached the Super Bowl after the 1980 and 2004 seasons but were defeated by the Oakland Raiders and Patriots, respectively.

In his second season as a head coach, Doug Pederson has masterfully guided the Eagles to the game’s biggest stage.

“I think it’s a testament to the job that Philly has done in putting together a really, really deep and impressive roster,” Lynch said. “They could stomach losing (quarterback) Carson Wentz, who was maybe the MVP of the year, and now Nick Foles is playing really well for them. It’s a very talented football team.”

The Falcons played both teams this season, losing to the Patriots 23-7 on Oct. 22 and the Eagles 15-10 on Jan. 13 in the divisional round of the playoffs.

“As you go through (the season), you really have to earn it,” Quinn said. “These two teams have done that. They’ve earned that right to play for the championship. I give credit to both of them.”

Both teams are playing well late in the season.

“Throughout the year, certain teams play better at certain times,” Quinn said. “You better be playing your best at the end of the year and into the playoffs, and these two teams are.

“We played both of them, so I do have knowledge of both of them. Both of them are well-coached, but they are different. The commonality is that both of them are really good with the ball. They are in the plus in turnover margin. That’s going to be a factor in the game for sure.”

The Eagles have a stout defensive unit.

“I’ve been impressed in the run game by Philadelphia,” Quinn said, “in terms of their run defense and the aggressiveness that they are playing with.”

Belichick’s teams that lost Super Bowls were mauled by the Giants’ front four.

The Eagles’ defensive front is led by dynamic defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.

“I think the one thing, over the years, is the people that have seen Tom (Brady) is you hit him and you hit him often,” Lynch said. “Is Philly going to be able to do that? The challenge is that he gets rid of the ball so damn quick. You have to figure out a way to make that happen.

“Philadelphia has the guys who can do it. They’ve made a lot of quarterback lives miserable.”

The Eagles are deep at the defensive end position. Vinny Curry and Brandon Graham start, while rookie Derek Barnett and Chris Long come off the bench. They have combined for 23 sacks in the regular season and playoffs.

Wentz suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Rams on Dec. 10, as the Rams prevailed 43-35.

The Eagles have continued to roll with veteran Foles at quarterback.

“They are very innovative,” Snead said. “(Pederson) is doing some things outside the box, which is very impressive. … They know how to score points.”