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Ask the Experts

What will happen in Super Bowl LII?

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: What will happen in Super Bowl LII?

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

Call it Patriots, 27-20. Although the Eagles have the defense -- and specifically, the defensive line -- to take a swing at New England, the Patriots edge at quarterback and head coach is too much of a head start (albeit the Pats seldom score in the first quarter of the big game). Eventually look for New England to wear down the Eagles, and get in the end zone enough to win.

Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for 20 years and writing about it for 17. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.

MICHAEL NAZAREK

Eagles 27, Patriots 24. A last-second field goal wins it for the underdog Eagles.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its newly re-designed web site. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is a four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a former columnist for SI.com. He's also won in excess of $20K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.

ALAN SATTERLEE

Given the huge playoff experience differential between the greatest of all time Tom Brady and Nick Foles, I just can’t bring myself to not pick Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots to win. There’s so much on the line for Brady and Belichick in terms further cementing their legacy that I have to think they find a way to get this done, winning three of the past four Super Bowls for the second time in their amazing careers. It’s been quite the dynasty. The Brady/Belichick Super Bowls have always been close so I’ll guess that continues and the Patriots win this one 27-24, which is their average margin of victory over their five other Super Bowl wins.

Satterlee is the Fantasy Football Insider for the Charlotte Observer and is syndicated in a few other newspapers in the southeast. Satterlee first started playing fantasy football in 1990.

IAN ALLAN

As well as Nick Foles played against Minnesota, I don’t think he’ll play at that level in this game. I don’t think he’s that good, and I believe the Patriots will be able to employ enough wrinkles and different coverages that Philadelphia will have problems moving the ball. That defense is a lot better now than it was back in September. And if Philadelphia can’t do enough defensively, I start to then get worried about that defense wearing out. That’s how both of New England’s last two Super Bowls have played out. The Seahawks and Falcons both had good defenses, but those units eventually wore out in the fourth quarter when they had been on the field too long.

Allan is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame. A co-founder of Fantasy Football Index in 1987, he generates most of the writing, player rankings and analysis for that publication. His work can be seen in Fantasy Football Index magazine and also at www.fantasyindex.com.

SAM HENDRICKS

New England rolls to a 28-17 win. Tom Brady gets Super Bowl MVP number 6. Not much of a contest. Nick Foles wilts under the New England pressure and plays like he has in several previous games. The Eagles struggle on offense and do not score a TD into late in the 3rd quarter. Gronk is a decoy. Danny Amendola gets a Pats TD along with Dwayne Allen and the Defense off a Pick Six. Bill Belichick is crowned super genius!

Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at ExtraPointPress.com, at all major bookstores, and at Amazon and BN.com. He is a 25-year fantasy football veteran who participates in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.

ANDY RICHARDSON

Maybe there is some wishful thinking involved in my picking against the Patriots. I'm not heading to Vegas to place money on it or anything. I probably approach Super Bowl picks in some years with the idea "How can the underdog win?" From that standpoint, there is some ammunition. Eagles were the best team in the NFL all season. They have the better defense in this game. The Patriots, for all their excellence over the years, were extremely fortunate to win the Seattle and Atlanta Super Bowls. (And perhaps they were unfortunate to lose the Giants games, fair point.) Regardless, New England may well have been a juggernaut back in the 18-1 season, but they're not right now. Lost in Miami. Lucky to win in Pittsburgh. Narrowly beat Jacksonville. And that's all in their last 6-7 games. So they're a really good and experienced team who has the clear edge at quarterback and head coach. That said, I like the Eagles to spring the upset. They can move the ball on New England, they can get some stops, and they can maybe make a thing or two happen on special teams and defense. Calling it Eagles 26, Patriots 24.

Richardson has been a contributing writer and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual experts draft and auction leagues since their inception. He previews all the NFL games on Saturdays and writes a wrap-up column on Mondays during the NFL season.

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