The doubts surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles had been heard loud and clear throughout the postseason. However, tight end Zach Ertz had little doubts about the team's preparation leading up to Super Bowl LII.

Most teams use the extra time off to help players get healthy while working on the game plan. According to Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk, Ertz says Philadelphia turned it up a notch in practice by pitting the starters against each other during the bye week:

“The management of the bye week was huge,” Ertz said. “We had ones against the ones that whole bye week, and that kind of set the tone for the playoffs. A lot of coaches in that situation would have let it be a bye week. But with the situations we had at quarterback losing Carson [Wentz] like that, that is probably the biggest week for us in terms of preparing for this stage.

Ertz added that he had been tasked with having to go up against veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins during practice.

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“I had to go against Malcolm Jenkins for a whole week, and I had not done that since training camp. That was a huge week for us as a football team, and I do not know if we would be here without that wee of preparation.”

Needless to say, head coach Doug Pederson's strategy worked for both Ertz and the Eagles as they managed to pull off the upset with a 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots. Although a high-scoring affair was likely not in the game plan, their preparation ultimately managed to pay huge dividends.

Ertz finished the game with seven receptions for 67 yards and the game-winning touchdown to help give the Eagles their first Vince Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.