5 Reasons Why the Philadelphia Eagles Will Win Super Bowl LII

Re-Leash the Secret Weapon

It might seem simple to take a leaf out of the Patriots’ defensive playbook here, but the Eagles need to take away New England's best weapon and stop tight end Rob Gronkowski to have a chance to win. Gronk is the biggest offensive weapon the Patriots have, a movable chess piece who will have a 6-inch and 50-pound advantage on most anyone who tries to cover him. Gronk's 1.03 Reception NEP per target this year was easily the top mark among 67 pass-catchers to see at least 75 targets or more. He good. Gronk smash.

But the Eagles have outside linebacker Nigel Bradham.

Per PFF, among the 93 linebackers to see at least 10 targets in coverage this year and play at least 25 percent of their team’s defensive snaps, Bradham has allowed the eighth-lowest catch rate (67.19 percent), the fifth-fewest receptions per coverage snap (just 7.0 percent), and the fifth-fewest yards per coverage snap (0.62). He might see a lot of time covering Gronk when the monstrous tight end is used in short-area passing situation, and Bradham could cap Gronk’s receiving upside.

Bradham's only weakness is that if Gronk catches the ball, it’s off to the races: Bradham has allowed 7.37 yards after catch per reception, the 22nd-most among linebackers this year.