I wise man told me about Blake Bortles.
“He’s good enough not to lose the game, but he isn’t good enough to win a game.”
It was so profound that it stuck with me because if Carson Wentz were playing in this Super Bowl, I’d put all your money on the Eagles.
The Eagles, in my opinion, aren’t the underdogs. They have a better defense than the Pats. They have a better running game and more explosives wide receivers.
The only question mark is Nick Foles. The Jags had a lot of advantages over the Pats, and you saw that in the first half, but when they needed to WIN the game, not just hold on to a lead, Bortles couldn’t deliver. In some instances, the Jags were scared to put the game in Bortles’ hand. They played not to lose because they were afraid of their quarterback inability to win the game.
The Eagles can’t do that with Nick Foles, sink or swim they have to allow him to win the game, they can’t be scared, and hopefully they learned from the Ghost of Blake Bortles.
I don’t know if Foles can do it, but I rather fail trying than not knowing.
I was thinking about the Patriots the other day and how all their Super Bowl games under Belichick and Brady have all been decided by 6 points or less and have been in doubt in the 4th quarter.
It made me think of the classic Julio Ceasar Chavez fight version, Meldrick Taylor. A lot of the opponents like Taylor get off to a fast start or are going blow for blow with Pats, but the Pats are just relentless, and they keep coming and coming until they break your will and spirit.
https://youtu.be/GG0fGo2wQ1E
They aren’t always the most talented team on the field, but they won’t ease up until the final bell (there is a Richard Steele ref joke in there).
In the end this game comes down to if you believe Nick Foles can pull an Eli Manning (or Jeff Hostetler) and as much as my gut is telling me that the Eagles are prime for a win, I simply can’t pull the trigger on Foles making the big play in the 4th quarter when he needs to.
21-17 Patriots