Story by Sam Bell, Sports Editor

Image courtesy of pexels.com

The stage is set, and Super Bowl LII is less than a week away from captivating the majority of America. The New England Patriots will be taking on the Philadelphia Eagles for the chance to claim the ultimate prize: the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The postseason thus far has been anything but ordinary. This season featured a plethora of unusual teams, including the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings, Las Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars. The New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers round out the playoff picture.

Both the Patriots and Eagles came into the postseason seeded number one, which meant both had a first round BYE. The Philadelphia Eagles ended up playing the Atlanta Falcons in the second round after the Falcons took down the Rams in round one. After a hard-fought game, the Eagles were able to pull through and take a 15-10 victory and advance to play the Vikings in the Conference Championship. What was considered to be a big matchup and what would guarantee to be an intense and close game turned out to be anything but, as the Eagles hit the gas and never pulled back in a 38-7 route.

The Patriots started their postseason against the Tennessee Titans, who turned out to be no match for Tom Brady and New England and were defeated, 35-10. This led to a matchup against Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship game. Although the first half was all Jaguars, the Patriots pulled together one of their famous comebacks in order to take a 24-20 victory and punch their ticket to yet another Super Bowl.

Be sure to tune in on Feb. 4 for what is sure to be a Super Bowl we won’t soon forget.