This will be an interesting Super Bowl with the most hated team in the NFL matching wits against a team whose fan base might very well punch a four-legged animal before the dust settles.
It’s the Philadelphia Eagles versus the New England Patriots, a super-duper championship that pits the team America loves to hate against a team that is looking for its first Super Bowl win ever (NFL Championships in 1948, 1949, and 1960).
Of course, the teams themselves are worth every last ounce of your fandom and respect.
The Patriots are threatening to do something rather remarkable, closing out its second bout of three titles in four years. (It also won three in four from 2001-2004).
Tom Brady is lifting the franchise with a mangled hand while there is a purported dumpster fire taking place behind the scenes.
The Eagles have surged behind a dedicated defensive attack and a quarterback, Nick Foles, whose inconsistency means he will show up looking like a superstar or backup QB.
They made it to the last game of the season despite losing Carson Wentz, a quarterback who was pretty much deified before succumbing to the downside of football—a season-ending injury.
But one of the more intriguing subplots isn’t about the players but the persona and fans that make up the larger culture heading into Super Bowl LII.
First, one of these teams is absolutely hated yet will be one half of the entertainment for, again, the third time in four years.
The press conferences will be boring, filled with jock platitudes and Belichick-ian faces devoid of vitality.
In September, Five Thirty Eight examined teams and their accompanying adoration. New England came in second only to the apogee of universal dislike, the Dallas Cowboys.
The website states 26.2% of respondents placed the Patriots in the bottom three of preferred franchises.
Last January, a similar study, this one by Public Policy Polling, looked at which teams were well liked. The Patriots came in on the wrong end of that stick, taking the top spot as the most disliked team in the NFL. As ESPN’s Darren Rovell pointed out at the time, this was the second straight year the Patriots owned that distinction. In this poll, 21% of respondents stated that they didn’t like New England.
Still, as far as ratings go, the Patriots pulled a 40.4 rating or higher during its early 2000s run. For perspective, the Super Bowls that did not feature the Patriots at the time, 2003 and 2006, pulled a 40.7 and a 41.6 respectively.
For Super Bowl XLIX, the Patriots and Seahawks commanded a 47.5 rating, a number that has dwindled in the two subsequent games, falling to 45.3 for last year’s Super Bowl—although it should be noted that the sport on whole has experienced a drop in viewership.
Still, the fans don’t seem to mind watching the Patriots regardless of how they actually feel about them.
As for the Philadelphia Eagles, there is a lot to like about this team of superstars and scrappers. It’s the people in the stands, however, that make rooting for the team an unsavory enterprise. They make the Raiders’ Black Hole look like a contingent at a four-year-old’s birthday party.
Most recently, the Vikings were the victims of a blowout loss to the Eagles as well as a beer barrage via Eagles’ fans.
Eagles fans pelting a Vikings bus with bottles, cans, whatever they can find to throw (la410rod_official/IG) pic.twitter.com/CmOWV5iZA2
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) January 22, 2018
It is also prudent to mention the Eagles fan who was recently arrested for punching a police horse, followed quickly by another Philly fan who managed to sink to the same deplorable low and also punch an equine officer.
Philadelphia Magazine compiled a wonderful list of the history of Eagles fans behaving badly, which includes, among many other things, bedlam at the victorious 1960 NFL Championship Game against the Packers; the franchise deciding to temporarily ban alcohol completely in 1989 and a fan firing off a flare gun at a Week 11 game in 1997.
The magazine does point out that things have been better in recent years. Still, riot police were needed thanks to a brawl breaking out before the Eagles played the Vikings in their NFL Championship game last Sunday.
If we are talking about Philadelphia faithful on a whole, there was the time that a Phillies fan vomited on an 11-year-old girl to note. Stay classy, Philly.
None of the above matters to those fans still growing playoff beards. However, the rest of America has a rather daunting question to answer in the next week. Do you root for the football equivalent of the evil empire—an unrelenting machine of success that features cameos of regret such as Deflategate, Spygate and, now, Glovegate—or do you pull for a franchise and its stars who have never tasted Super Bowl glory regardless of whether that means Philadelphia bars becoming real-life Fight Clubs and local horses get pummeled in tandem.
The only sure bet is this Super bowl will pull a massive number in ratings, despite the ongoing controversy surrounding concussions and kneeling players.
There is simply too much drama to ignore in this game. Those with vested interests will show up early to pre-party and the rest of the nation will show up just to see if one of these teams gets embarrassed.
Vitriol may just be the best thing Super Bowl LII has going for it.
The Patriots are apparently falling apart behind the scenes and Brady’s hand is exploding at the seams. As for the Eagles, it could be walking into an utter annihilation against a tested winner that knows how to flummox other teams and score at will.
The only thing more enticing than an early February barbecue, a reason to drink on Sunday and Super Bowl squares is the inevitability that one of these teams will lose.
That should be more than enough to garner quite the television rating.
Last year, most fans (53%) wanted to see the Patriots fail. Thanks to a dramatic comeback and, perhaps, a polarizing franchise on the field, the game commanded one of the most watched programs ever.
It doesn’t matter if you loathe these teams. You will watch this game, and I reckon will do so in record numbers.
