SURE WAS SPECIAL
MINNEAPOLIS — They call it Philly Special, and now it’s a play that will live forever in Philadelphia Eagles history.
The trick play was designed specifically for Eagles backup quarterback-turned-Super Bowl hero Nick Foles to catch a pass in the end zone.
It sounds crazy, but much of what the Eagles did on this postseason run had a tinge of madness to it.
Head coach Doug Pederson drew up Philly Special at the start of January while the Eagles spent their post-season bye week crafting bits of the offence for Foles, who had replaced an injured Carson Wentz in mid-December.
The play had several parts: A shift to move Foles away from centre Jason Kelce, a direct snap to running back Corey Clement, a hand-off to tight end Trey Burton and subsequent pass back to the quarterback, who was running a route toward the back right corner of the end zone.
Burton told USA Today that the Eagles had run the play about twice a week in practice since it was installed, and Foles never dropped the pass.
But none of the Eagles could have predicted Pederson was actually going to call it — and especially that he would dial it up in that scenario.
“You just think about making it happen, you don’t think about the situation. Now we can think about it, and Coach has got some guts,” Burton said.
Foles’ pass on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line fell incomplete, and with 38 seconds left before halftime and a 15-12 lead, no one would have faulted Pederson from calling for a field goal and taking the points and a six-point lead into halftime.
Instead, he called a timeout, and then he called Philly Special.
“As soon as Nick walked over to the lineman it was like, ‘Oh shoot, we’re going to run it,’” Jenkins said. “It worked to perfection.”
The fact that Brady had missed his chance to catch a pass on a trick play earlier in the first half only made it sweeter.
“We weren’t worried about Foles catching it,” Jenkins said.