Two days prior to the kickoff of Super Bowl LII, sophomore Aditya Chittari was sure that his team, the New England Patriots, would win.

Chittari first watched the Patriots play in the Super Bowl XLIV, and has witnessed quarterback Tom Brady’s ability to perform on the biggest stage multiple times since then. However, the same can’t be said for Eagles quarterback Nick Foles who had never played in a Super Bowl game.

Chittari believed that the Patriots would undoubtedly bring home the Lombardi trophy for the 6th time in franchise history, with his prediction being a 35-17 Patriots win.

“I expect it to be a blowout,” Chittari said before the game. “Nick Foles hasn’t had much [playoff experience]. Meanwhile Tom Brady [has won] five Super Bowls. I just don’t believe in Nick Foles. That’s why the Patriots are going to win.”

Despite the Patriots’ loss to the Eagles with a score of 41-33, Chittari enjoyed the game, reflecting on it afterwards.

“It was a pretty entertaining game [because] it came down to the wire,” Chittari said. “There were some questionable touchdown calls, but I think the Eagles deserved to win. They played better than [the Patriots].”

Although the Patriots fell short at the end, Chittari feels as though the loss shouldn’t be put on Brady’s shoulders, who threw for a Super Bowl record 505 passing yards.
“[I think the Patriots lost] because their defense was garbage,” Chittari said. “I mean, both defenses were pretty bad but you can’t blame Tom Brady because he played pretty well.”

Still, some say the loss might have literally been on the hands of Brady as he dropped what would have been a crucial completion in the first quarter and ended up fumbling the ball later in the fourth quarter, which was the play that ultimately decided the fate of the game.

Chittari believes that the Patriots will recover from this loss as there is speculation that the nucleus of the organization will return.

“It’s all going to be fine,” Chittari said. “I think both [Brady and Belichick] are going to stay for a couple more years, but I think Malcolm Butler is probably going to get cut, but we’re getting Julian Edelman and Brandin Cooks back next year.”

Watch the video below for an inside look on some Super Bowl reactions.

Photos courtesy of Creative Commons.