2018 Super Bowl New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles: What to know

Patriots, Eagles compete in Super Bowl 52 at U.S. Bank Stadium

MINNEAPOLIS – The New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles are playing in Super Bowl 52 on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018. Here's everything you need to know.

Here's everything you need to know about Super Bowl 52:

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When is the game?

Sunday, February 4, 2018.

What time is the game?

Kickoff for Super Bowl LII is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. 

Who is playing in the game?

AFC Champs, New England Patriots vs. NFC Champs, Philadelphia Eagles

What channel is the game on?

NBC/WDIV in Detroit

How can I watch the game online?

You'll also be able to stream the game on NBC Sports Live. 

Who is playing the halftime show?

Justin Timberlake is performing the halftime show for the third time.

Where is Super Bowl 52 being played?

Minneapolis, Minnesota. Home of the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.

What's the spread?

As of Jan. 29, the Patriots are a 4.5 point favorite.

Here's some background on Super Bowl 52:

The Eagles are playing some of their best football heading into Sunday's Super Bowl matchup with the Patriots.

One thing Philadelphia can't contend with is New England's huge experience advantage in the big game.

On the 53-man active roster the Patriots brought to Minnesota, 32 players have a combined 60 games of Super Bowl experience.

Tom Brady alone has been to the Super Bowl seven times during his 18-year career, winning five.

By comparison, the Eagles have seven players on their active roster who've won a Super Bowl. Two of those players, LeGarrette Blount and Chris Long, won their rings last season with the Patriots. The others are Torrey Smith, Malcolm Jenkins, Corey Graham, Dannell Ellerbe and Will Beatty. An eighth player, Chris Maragos, is on injured reserve with a knee injury.

It's a huge gulf. By comparison, the 2015 Panthers that lost to the Broncos in the Super Bowl that season had three players who had won a ring: Ed Dickson (Baltimore), Roman Harper (New Orleans) and Michael Oher (Baltimore).

But the Patriots say it's nothing they will spend time talking about this week.

"I think it's overrated," said special teams captain Matt Slater, who will be appearing in his fourth Super Bowl.

Defensive end Trey Flowers said the coaching staff hasn't mentioned last year's Super Bowl win since it came up in film study prior to their regular-season meeting with Atlanta back in October.

"It's a brand new team, so I wouldn't say last year's experience will have anything to do with the outcome of this game," Flowers said. "This team has a lot of different guys from a year ago, so it's something you've got to do all over again as far as experience goes."

Yes and no.

New England actually returns 31 players who were on last year's Super Bowl roster against the Falcons. That doesn't include injured linebacker Dont'a Hightower or receiver Julian Edelman.

Two of the Patriots' additions since then both played in the Super Bowl with other teams. Linebacker James Harrison won two rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers and defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois played on the San Francisco 49ers team that came up short against Baltimore in the Super Bowl at the end of the 2012 season.

"We know what to expect, but at the end of the day, you've got to perform," linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. "So there's really no upper hand. You've got to just play the game and get ready for it and play at a high level."

He said that is because there is respect across the board for what backup quarterback Nick Foles has accomplished since Carson Wentz tore his ACL in Week 14.

"Everyone wants to hate on Nick Foles, but he's done a great job," Van Noy said. "He's still a high-caliber quarterback, like Carson Wentz. Nick Foles is a great quarterback who's done a great job. They distribute the ball really well and their run game is at a high level."

More than experience on either side, linebacker Elandon Roberts said the biggest challenge is not getting caught up in the emotions that come with playing in a Super Bowl.

"Obviously it's all the marbles right here, but it's everything you work for," Roberts said. "So you've got to think back to what got you here: doing your job, not getting overwhelmed and what not. As long as we do that that takes away most of it."

Pederson is win away from delivering Philly first Super Bowl

Doug Pederson is one win away from bringing Philadelphia the elusive Super Bowl title his mentor couldn't deliver.

If the Eagles (15-3) beat New England (15-3) on Sunday, Pederson will hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Philadelphia will celebrate its first NFL title since beating Lombardi's Green Bay Packers in 1960.

No one saw this coming two years ago.

After abruptly firing Chip Kelly, Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie longed for a coach more like the one he used to have: Andy Reid. Even though Reid failed to win the big game during his 14-year tenure in Philadelphia, he won more games than any coach in franchise history and led the Eagles to nine playoff appearances, five NFC title games and a Super Bowl loss to the Patriots.

Reid also had a close relationship with Lurie, was well-liked by the players and instilled a family atmosphere. That culture was an important element for Lurie. The environment had changed under Kelly, who was 26-21 in three seasons. Though he was an innovative coach, Kelly didn't connect well with all his players and members of the organization.

So Lurie went back to what he knew and hired Pederson, Reid's protege.

Lurie was quite familiar with Pederson, who was a quarterback for Reid with the Eagles in 1999 and then an assistant coach on his staff in Philadelphia and Kansas City.

Other coaches had more impressive resumes, but Lurie liked Pederson's intangibles.

"I spent a lot of time with players at the end of that (2015) season and I thought what was really needed was a kind of leadership that leads with a genuineness, a real genuineness," Lurie said. "And people laughed when I used the term 'emotional intelligence,' but that's probably a really good way to describe it.

"There's a lot of great coaches. They all have their different styles, but the one common ground among them all is absolute consistency and genuineness. And Doug Pederson is just himself. And at times that's very humble, and at times it's just very real. At times that's very bright. At times it's tough. But he does it in a true, genuine way and I think players really respond to that in today's world."

Naturally, Pederson learned from Reid.

"Being around him, he's the same day in and day out," Pederson said. "Same consistency. Same work ethic."

Like Reid, Pederson had his share of critics. He wasn't the people's choice in Philly when he got the job and ESPN ranked him the worst hire of his coaching class at the time. Three of the six other coaches already have been fired.

"I don't pay any attention to that, quite honestly," Pederson said. "I drive home at night knowing I put in a full day's work. I get up in the morning to come in here, and however I can serve this organization and serve these players, that's all I know. I love football. I love coaching football. I love teaching it. I love being around these guys, and I'm going to pour my life into these players. If it's good enough, great, because that's all I know I can do and I've given it my best effort. So I don't care about what's written."

Pederson cares about his players, improving their game and making them better men off the field. He gets what they're going through because he played, although mostly as a backup. They trust in him and his coaching philosophy.

"Coach Pederson is an unbelievable coach to play for," said Nick Foles, who went from backup quarterback to hero of the NFC championship game. "He just has such a great feel for the game."

Pederson's steady demeanor and positive approach helped the team overcome numerous injuries to key players, including Carson Wentz, Jason Peters and Jordan Hicks.

Seeing their coach never waver gave guys confidence they can beat anyone. It helps that Pederson has devised masterful game plans. He outcoached Mike Zimmer in the NFC championship game as Foles picked apart the top-ranked defense en route to Philadelphia's 38-7 win over Minnesota .

"I played for some amazing coaches, and Doug is an unbelievable play caller," Foles said. "He does a great job of deciding when to call each thing, but our staff is unbelievable at game planning and putting us in position, no matter if it's the run game, the pass game, the screen game, whatever it may be. The attention to detail is unbelievable and we go into a game feeling 100 percent confident because of our staff and the work and long hours that they put in to get the game plan to us so that we can go out and execute. That's big for an athlete when you can go out there and trust everything."

Ready for Super Bowl 52 sandwich?

The Patriots are hungry for yet another Super Bowl win. The Eagles are voracious for a first such title.

Everyone else in the Twin Cities will have to settle for something else. Such as a massive sandwich by master chef Ron DeSantis that will include 52 ingredients _ one for each of the Super Bowls.
 
DeSantis, one of 68 certified master chefs in the United States, is working with Hormel Foods to create a sandwich 9 inches tall, 26 inches long and 18 inches wide. It takes 2 1-2 hours to make, and can feed 48.
 
"My inspiration is you have got the 52nd Super Bowl and how to make something as magnificent that stands up to that," DeSantis says. "I am about food, so 52 unique ingredients."
 
Half of the sandwich will be cold,  the other half hot.

"The bottom part of the sandwich has cold, the top has all hot," he explains. "You got two sandwiches put together with a hummus that is kind of like the glue to keep together the top and bottom.
 
"It was a lot of fun."
 
The sandwich will be unveiled later in the week, with Minnesota receiver Adam Thielen and maybe other NFL players dropping by the Mall of America to take a bite on Thursday.
 
So what goes into such a masterpiece? 
 
Just about everything.
 
For example: provolone, havarti and gouda cheese; genoa salami, ham, porchetta, bacon, turkey and pulled pork; hummus; roasted sweet potatoes; spinach, cucumber, artichoke spinach dip, roasted tomatoes; grilled onions, zucchini, peppers and eggplant. Even SPAM.
 
You get the message.

"Thinking through the flavors and textures, I did flavors that are kind of Mediterranean rim," DeSantis says. "I needed to make sure everything on there stays with that kind of flavor. Things from Mexican or Indian or Asian (cuisines) might not fit."
DeSantis invited some neighbors over to sample the mixture he will be putting into the Super Bowl sandwich. It filled them up.
 
"This is a meal," he says. "You slice into this and it is like a meal. I had the neighbors over and they ate a full wedge of it and said, `I am done.'"
 
DeSantis is the director of culinary excellence and quality assurance for Yale Dining. He's also worked with the Culinary Institute of America.

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About the Authors:

Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.