Former Patriots assistant Mike Lombardi joined Ordway, Merloni & Fauria on Radio Row Friday to discuss the keys to Super Bowl LII for both the Patriots and Eagles. To hear the full interview, visit the Ordway, Merloni & Fauria audio on demand page.
Lombardi highlighted the most intriguing matchup, the highly anticipated battle between a dangerous Philadelphia defense and a forceful New England offense.
"I think it will be a fascinating matchup," Lombardi said. "I'm sure Bill's got a lot in store to handle it and I'm sure that the Patriots offense understands more than anything that the pace of this game is most critical… You don't want to gain a lot of yards in short amounts of time. You need to be able to control the pace. The teams that play to make the Eagles defense play 30 minutes (such as) Kansas City, Seattle won the game… You've got to make this Eagles defense play plays."
In order to wear out the Eagles' defense, the Patriots' offense will need to execute efficiently, not allowing the Philadelphia defensive line to dictate the pace of the game. Lombardi expressed that the best way to execute is through the no-huddle offense.
"You want to lock a personnel group on the field, which is essentially why you go no huddle, so you lock them on the field," Lombardi said. "If you come to the line, you still got to stand there. One thing pass rushers don't want to do is line up in their three-point stance for 30, 20 seconds before the ball is actually snapped. They want to get up there and go."
In the end, Lombardi envisions a close a game with the Eagles coming out on top, 23-20, exploiting the weaknesses in the Patriots' defense.
"What they do is they make chunk plays on third down and that's what the Patriots really have to guard against," Lombardi said. "(Malcolm) Butler is going to be challenged. He's going to have to handle Torrey Smith vertically down the field, he's going to have to handle (Alshon) Jeffery vertically down the field and he can't give up big plays."
