The Bill Belichick-led New England Patriots are famous for being arguably the most prepared team in the NFL. In order to beat them in the Super Bowl, Doug Pederson and the Philadelphia Eagles seem to be adopting a similar mentality.
According to Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News, the Eagles are preparing how to deal with the longer-than-usual pregame and halftime breaks during the Super Bowl and have held a mock halftime in practice.
Article Continues Below“It is a long time, pregame and halftime,’’ Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. “I’ve begun conversations with our players preparing them for it.’’
Said center Jason Kelce: “We’re going to get used to how we’re going to handle the [extended halftime] situation and how we’re going to try and stay loose and not tighten up by sitting in a chair for 30 minutes. That’s probably a bad idea,” center Jason Kelce said. “Those guys [the coaches and training staff] are all on top of that stuff and they’re going to try and simulate everything during the week, so we’re ready to deal with it on Sunday.’’
Due to the added pageantry and ceremony of the Super Bowl, teams will need to sit through 40 minutes of downtime during pregame (more than double the usual time) and 30 minutes at halftime (around 18 minutes more than usual).
Given how often the Patriots have been to the Super Bowl, they know by now how to adjust to that break. But while the Eagles have the likes of Chris Long and LeGarrette Blount, who had that experience with the Pats last season, it’s still wise for the mostly inexperienced team to get a better sense of the situation they'll be in on Sunday.