One would figure that if either team in Super Bowl LII faced a "win or else" situation, it would be a team that will have what next season will be a 41-year-old quarterback, and playing in the conference that went 23-41 in interconference games this season.
Well, think again.
First, in addition to the Super Bowl Runner-Up Jinx (which of course will apply to the loser whoever it is), whose effects have been so massive for so long that its dolorous details need not be repeated here, the Eagles' 2018 draft list has more holes in it than a Texas oilfield — and big holes too, with both the second and third-round picks traded away (true, a New England win on Sunday would make the Patriots just the second team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl after not having had either a first or a second-round pick, 15 years after the Buccaneers did it — but hey, the Patriots are, well, the Patriots).
Second, the Eagles were the mice that played in 2017 ,while the NFC's cats were away — the Cowboys because of Ezekiel Elliott's six-game suspension, the Packers because of the 10 games missed in whole or in part by Aaron Rodgers, and the Seahawks because of the 26 combined absences of Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Cliff Avril.
And finally, there is Carson Wentz's ACL injury — which typically has a nine- to 12-month recovery window attached to it — meaning that, the way the scenario could very well unfold, Wentz may not play at all in 2018, since by the time he is able to return, the only thing he could "lead" the Eagles to is a lower pick in the 2019 draft.
So even if the Eagles win on Sunday and will therefore not be subject to the Super Bowl Runner-Up Jinx in 2018, if you believe that Philadelphia will even get back to the Super Bowl, much less win it, then I own a certain bridge that runs between two boroughs of New York City that I will be happy to sell to you.
And if they lose?
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