My random thoughts on the victorious NFC Championship Game , won by the Eagles . 38-7. The Eagles are going to Super Bowl LII in two weeks, facing the evil empire, the new England Patriots.
* I was at the game, One of the most amazing, unforgettable experiences of my sports life. The noise was deafening. Even after the Vikings took the opening kickoff down for a touchdown, the fans didn't give up. We were disappointed, but we remained loud. Most fans hardly ever sat down the entire game. .
We got to the sports complex after 2:00. No traffic on the expressway. The Citizens Bank Park parking lot was open and full of tail-gaters. Everyone was having fun, The weather was a mild 50 degrees for January. The last two times the Eagles went to the Super Bowl it was freezing in Philly, bitterly cold. Yesterday was almost perfect, a lot like this magical Eagles' season.
Everyone was happy and smiling as we entered the Linc. No one seemed nervous, like we were going to lose. Fans seemed confident but not cocky. All were looking forward to a special night ahead.
* Coach Doug Pederson once again called a brilliant game. His game-plan was brilliant, shredding the league's top defense. What I especially loved about Doug was at the end of the first half. The Eagles had the ball at their own 25-yard line with two time-outs and 39 seconds remaining in the half. The Birds were up, 21-7. Many fans expected QB Nick Foles to take a knee or hand-off and run the clock out, going into the locker room with the lead.
Instead, Foles threw the ball, including a long gain to TE Zach Ertz ( who had a great game), and got the team into field goal range. Jake Elliot booted a bonus three points to extend the lead to 24-7 and give the Birds momentum into the locker room. The Eagles got the ball first to open the second half, scored a touchdown, and the game was never in doubt after that. The Vikings spirit was broken and most of the second half was just a party and love fest between Eagle players and the joyful fans.
Pederson didn't turtle-up. He stayed aggressive and stepped on the Vikings' necks Hopefully the coach stays aggressive against the Pats.
* I once again met the classy Ray Didinger, and he was just as friendly and nice as ever. What a great writer and tremendous guy! Someone will write the definitive story of this storybook Eagles season. Hopefully Ray is the guy to do it.
* The fans were great last night. We were loud and didn't let up all game, right until the game ended and the celebration began. The Birds finished 9-1 at home this year, the only loss a meaningless defeat to Dallas in the last game of the year.
So much for stupid writer Mike Sielski who recently wrote that the Eagles don't have a home field advantage at the Linc .The fans wouldn't let the Birds quit all year, even after Carson Wentz hurt his knee. The fans traveled with the team and took over enemy stadiums. They were wild at home. And they truly made a difference, as the players fed off the cheers and the fans fed off the players' pleas to get crazy.
Thank God the game was in Philadelphia last night. The Birds may have still won in Minnesota, but the Vikes really didn't have a chance at the Linc. The win at Carolina earlier in the season turned out to be crucial. Both the Eagles and Vikings finished 13-3, 10-2 in the NFC. What made the difference was common opponents, as Philly beat the Panthers and Minnesota did not, hence the Eagles got home field advantage last night.
* Kudos to QB Nick Foles,w ho played the game of his life against the vikings. His stats would've been even more amazing if not for a dropped pass by Torrey Smith and Trey Burton not being able to keep his feet in bounds during the Eagles' first drive, Foles was sharp again, like night and day compared to the shaky Minnesota quarterback Case Keenum.
Who could have imagined back in the summer that Foles would pick up where Wentz left off and lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl. Foles had a sore elbow in training camp. In fact, he was held out of numerous practice sessions. But now, after getting reps with the first squad, and wearing the rust off with play, Foles is playing even better than in 2013, when he had 27 TDs and only 2 interceptions.
* The defense again played amazing, as Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz dialed-up a great game-plan to hold Minnesota to a mere seven points. The Viking defense was No. 1 in the NFL before the game, but you gotta throw out all the numbers and statistics when it comes to an emotional, big-time championship game like last night.
I think the key play of the game was Patrick Robinson's pick-six touchdown interception in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7. The fans were loud, but admittedly, the Vikings' opening drive for a score took some of the wind out of the crowd. Robinson's play not only knotted the score but made the fans crazy again, as they were prior to kickoff.
We said that turnovers would be key. Last week the Birds were 0-2 in the takeaway department yet still won, a rare occurrence. Last night Philly had a 2-0 advantage in turnovers and that was a huge difference to the outcome of the game.
* Minnesota fans deserved what they got. They were sprinkled in the crowd, purple jerseys standing out among all the green. They seemed quiet, respectful and in fear of Eagle fans. By the third quarter they were leaving the stadium in disappointment and shame, heads lowered, Eagle fans chanting 'Skoal!" in mocking fashion.
What really pissed me off most of all was a bunch of dopey Viking fans went to the Rocky statue at the Art Museum and draped the iconic statue in purple and gold towels and linen, putting the desecration on Twitter. Minnesota fans seem too nice- or scared- to duke it out with Eagle followers. Instead they are back-stabbers.
Cowboy fans are the most obnoxious . Viking fans may be the dumbest. Why would you let all the Philly fans know what you did to the beloved Rocky statue and not expect karma to come back and bite you in the butt?
Plus, as we exited the stadium last night, we were ready to cross Pattison Ave, looking for the ramp. Wouldn't you know it? A group of 4 or 5 Viking fans, all dressed in purple, were gathered in front of the ramp, either talking or crying, as floods of Eagle fans passed them by on either side. We asked them to please move so the wheelchair could use the ramp to cross the street. The dopey Minnesota guys just looked, not saying a word, yet not moving, so we squeezed around them to use the ramp.
What a bunch of idiots. As Merrill Reese said after the game, the Vikings can spend the rest of their winter ice-fishing while the Eagles play in the Super Bowl in two weeks.
* Howie Rossman is a genius. I never thought I would say that. Think of all the free agents he signed during the off-season: Jeffrey, Blount, Long, etc. They have all contributed to this Super Bowl team. Plus, his trade to get RB Jay Ajayi form Miami during the season may have been the best of all. He deserved to win Executive of the Year. Joe Douglas needs to be honored as well, for his draft last spring. Give the front office credit for undoing the total mess that Chip Kelly left the franchise in. (I wonder if Kelly was watching last night? I'm sure his arrogant self would try to take some sort of credit if someone asked him about the eagles' Super bowl run).
Plus, credit owner Jeffery Lurie for firing Kelly, reinstating Rossman and hiring Pederson as coach. It was nice seeing him accept the Halas trophy last night for the NFC Championship, and to see him dance again with the players on the sidelines.
* I didn't see the Fox broadcast team.They were holed up under a team on the Minnesota sidelines. it's too bad that Terry Bradshaw presented the NFC trophy instead of Howie Long. It would've been fun to see him interview his son, who came up big again in the game.
I was at the stadium, so I didn't hear their predictions for the game, but I heard that, predictably, Strahan and Jimmie Johnson picked Minnesota tow in. Losers again.An ex-Cowboy and an ex-Giant. It had to tick them off to see the Eagles win and hear the joy of the fans, hated as they were ( and still are) in Philadelphia.
* So, I went 18-0 picking Eagle games this season. It may have been an "easy" year to predict the games, as Howard Eskin claimed on his radio show last Saturday, but he didn't have a perfect season.I'll make my Super Bowl pick as the big game grows closer.
* The Eagles relished in their role as underdogs. They are 5 1/2 point 'dogs to New England in the Super Bowl. That's good. Already the wretched ESPN writers and commentators are going with the Patriots. I'm so glad the Birds won and those so-called pundits, Las Vegas and other Philly haters got it stuck right up their....
Speaking of underdogs, there were dog masks at the Linc, but not as many as I expected. I guess fans realized they couldn't wear them into the game ( for security reasons), and you couldn't see through them, and any noise you tried to make was muffled.
Instead, the Eagles came up with a cool idea. They showed fans on the scoreboard and simply super-imposed dog faces over the heads of the fans. They did play "Who Let The Dogs Out."
* There were quite a few celebrity sightings at the Linc. Charles Barkley, Stephen A. Smith and Bradley Cooper were there. Eagle alumni Donovan McNabb, Wilbert Montgomery and Brian Dawkins were in attendance.Brian Westbrook gave the fans a pep talk on the scoreboard. It's the "in" thing to be seen at an Eagles game now, and it should be that way for the foreseeable future.
I was half-expecting Sylvester Stallone to make a surprise appearance, but he was a no-show. Maybe the Eagles thought he would be a distraction, maybe a jinx ( Stallone opened the Linc against Tampa Bay, which turned into an ugly Buccaneer shut-out).
The Roots,, a Philly R&B group that serves as the house band on the Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show, played an extended rap song at halftime, blending into a Fly Eagles Fly melody. Apparently The Roots weren't shown on Fox.
The post-game celebration was cool;. The second half was a party for the fans, relaxed that the outcome of the game was really not in doubt. It was unreal in a way, like "Is this really happening?" kind of a feel. The green confetti, the trophy presentation, the 70,000 fans sticking around to cheer, the fireworks. the players circling the field and thanking fans....all surreal.
Leaving the Linc, the fans were happy, singing the "Fly Eagles Fly" fight song and chanting the E-A-G-L-E-S chant, but I was surprised they weren't as rowdy as expected. They celebrated but weren't reckless, at least not around the stadium.
The news showed floods of fans on Broad Street in Center City. The city greased light poles so people wouldn't climb them. The craziest thing i saw was some young really stupid guy, decked out in green Eagle gear, hanging out a back window of a speeding car under the 30th Street Station tunnel. He could've been killed and hopefully made it to his destination safely, but obviously didn't care if he did or not.
I'm sure the celebration in two weeks, after the birds beat New England, and the parade a few days later, will be nuts, the biggest celebration in Philly sports history.
* I was in the men's room just before the half, and about twenty Eagle fans were doing the Eagles' chant. A viking fan wandered in, and the Philly fans jeered him with yells of "Skoal!" a favorite Minnesota chant. Even at halftime the fans were going nuts, even in the john.
* Even though the home season ended perfectly, and the Birds are on their way to the Super Bowl in Minneapolis on February 4th, it was still bittersweet to know another meaningful home game wouldn't occur until September. Hopefully that home opener will be a pre-game ceremony to raise the Super Bowl championship banner.That will be a hot ticket, no matter who they play.
* So, what does it all mean? For Minnesota it means another devastating loss in a big game, big it the Super Bowl or the NFC Championship Game. Their vaunted defense failed them when it counted the most. They have quarterback issues too. Will they keep Keenum? What about Sam Bradford? Is Teddy Bridgewater healthy enough to return to his old self?
Let's face it- their win over the Saints was a fluky miracle. They had a good year, going 13-3, but they were out-matched in the playoffs. For the Viking players to say they didn't show enough life or emotion in the biggest game of their lives, don't you have to look at the coaching?
For the Eagles, they face New England on February 4th. Isn't it appropriate, the perfect ending to a season of destiny/ Beating the defending champs? Getting revenge on the team that beat you in the Super bowl in 2005?
Beating Tom Brady and the mighty Pats, who are prohibitive favorites going into the game, would be satisfying as hell. Maybe playing Jacksonville would've been easier. New England went 13-3, a duel of No. 1 seeds, but they did avoid a rematch with Pittsburgh in the playoffs. They struggled with the Jaguars, even at home. Maybe they aren't all that anymore, as Brady gets older?
They are cheaters, and not a very popular squad. Hopefully most of the country rallies around the underdog, scrappy Eagles, appreciating hard-work and a blue-collar mentality, the opposite of the Patriot's elite, cool, machine-like demeanor.
The Dynasty vs. the Underdogs.It's Rocky all over again in two weeks.
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