What Went Down In Super Bowl LII

The Eagles are going to have to rely on the run to hold the ball and execute the standard anti-Brady offense. Philadelphia was tied for third in the league in both total rushing and yards during the season, but also has an edge in a key sneaky stat: yards before contact. Philly was eighth in the league with 115 rushing plays on which the runner went at least four years before being touched. That’s pretty good (and one position behind New England, which had 123), but they turned that into 1447 yards, good for 2nd, just behind league leading Carolina. The Eagles don’t just design plays to get their runners into position to hit clean holes — they take advantage of those holes once they open up. The opening drive showed how Philly can rack up yards on New England by getting its runners open early. And during the regular season, at least, Philly was the most efficient red zone offense. It didn’t pan out on that opening series, but the fundamentals were in place.