By Liam Andell

At the end of the regular season, the Philadelphia Eagles sat at 13-3 on top of the NFC. Whenever a team is in first place heading into the playoffs you would expect them to be win the Super Bowl, but when it came to the Eagles that wasn’t the case. After the Eagles relaxed on their couch watching the wild card round they got ready for the number 6 seeded Atlanta Falcons. After the final wild-card game, Las Vegas released their odds for the upcoming playoff games and the Philadelphia Eagles were an underdog for a game played at their home field Lincoln Financial Field. This was the first time ever in NFL history that a number one seed was projected to lose against a 6 seed in the playoffs.

Everyone had written the Philadelphia Eagles off but they came in on that freezing cold night and smashed the Falcons right in the mouth, winning 15-10. The game came down to the last-minute when Atlanta was driving down the field but Philadelphia cornerback Jalen Mills played an outstanding coverage on star receiver for the Falcons Julio Jones and forced Atlanta to turn the ball over on downs. On the field for post-game celebrations was Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson who came out in a dog mask to symbolize how the Eagles were underdogs. Within a matter of hours, Amazon had sold out of all of their dog masks that millions of Philadelphia fans bought.

The next week Las Vegas released their odds for the NFC Championship game against the Minnesota Vikings and once again we were underdogs. On the day of the game, Vikings fans showed up to Philadelphia with the mindset that they were going to take over. Vikings fans dressed up Philadelphia’s Rocky statue in Vikings apparel and then joined on the Philadelphia Art Museum to chant their Minnesota “SKOL” chant. I wouldn’t call 50 people dressed in purple meeting up at a museum to clap their hands a takeover. After word got out that Minnesota fans did all of this, Eagles fans made sure to give the Vikings fans a not so warm welcome as they entered the Lincoln Financial Field with boos, beer cans, and middle fingers. Eagles fans gathered in the stands wearing their dog masks in support of the team’s underdog persona.

When the game began Minnesota jumped out to an early lead after a touchdown to tight end Kyle Rudolph. The entire mantra of the game changed very soon after when Vikings quarterback Case Keenum was pressured and threw a bad pass that was intercepted by Eagles cornerback Patrick Robinson and returned for the Eagles first touchdown. From that point on the Philadelphia Eagles scored another 31 unanswered points and went on to win 38-7 and advance to the Superbowl for only their third time in franchise history.

It was well known by pretty much all NFL fans that the Philadelphia Eagles have never won a Super Bowl. The entire team and their fans are criticized all the time for never having won and it would mean so much for the city to win. The last time the Eagles made the Super Bowl was in 2005 when they had to play against Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots. The New England Patriots are a historically talented team since the 2000’s, winning 5 Super Bowl rings and reaching the big dance 8 times.

Even though the odds are stacked against them and the Eagles are early 5-point underdogs once again, this doesn’t faze them at all. Their entire season has been full of disrespect, doubt, injuries, and adversity so having to face New England is nothing new for the Eagles. “We ain’t done yet” was head coach Doug Pederson’s post-game message after beating Atlanta and it certainly hasn’t changed for this upcoming week. The Philadelphia Eagles are in the Super Bowl for the first time in 13 years.

On Sunday, February 4th the Eagles and Patriots squared off in the Super Bowl. The game will certainly go down as a great moment in history not only because it was so close but because Philadelphia was able to bring home their first Lombardi trophy in history. The final score was 41-33 and backup quarterback Nick Foles took home the Super Bowl’s MVP title with 373 passing yards and 4 total touchdowns. This was a very emotional and amazing day for all of Philadelphia. Several thousands of people hit the streets to celebrate with one another. Thousands more will be there on Thursday, February 8th, 2018 on Broad Street to celebrate and see our team with the Lombardi.

E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES