Rich Eisen isn’t going against the grain as the new NFL season approaches.
The field for Super Bowl LIV effectively is wide open, as there doesn’t appear to be a clear-cut frontrunner for the Lombardi Trophy heading into the 2019 campaign. But despite a host of legitimate contenders to choose from, Eisen is going with the usual suspects for his preseason Super Bowl champion prediction.
“I think I’m going to choose the Patriots to repeat,” Eisen wrote in his guest appearance in Peter King’s “Football Morning in America” column for NBC Sports. “I know those are dirty words to a lot of NFL fans. And, as if some of you aren’t outraged enough, I’m thinking about taking them to beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl 54. I have about two months to go until I have to make my prediction on the 2019 Season Preview edition of ‘NFL GameDay Morning,’ but this is the way I’m leaning right now. Anyone who thinks I’m crazy, feel free to chalk it up to my advancing age.”
Eisen’s prediction for next February’s clash in Miami surely is a dream scenario for the NFL. The Cowboys haven’t reached football’s biggest stage since 1995, and pitting “America’s Team” up against Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Co. certainly would be quite the spectacle. Dallas’ pillars likely are more motivated than ever to make a Super Bowl run, too, as Dak Prescott is set to enter a contract year, while another early playoff exit could spell the end of the Jason Garrett era.
As for the Patriots, they’ll have the benefit of playing in a weak division and owning a favorable regular-season schedule as they aim to repeat as champions for the second time in franchise history.
