Orlando Sentinel

These dogs have their day Feb. 4

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PHILADELPH­IA — Football is a game of disguise. In these parts, that means rubber dog masks.

The Philadelph­ia Eagles were home underdogs in their two playoff games this month, and odds makers are now favoring the New England Patriots by 51⁄2 points in Super Bowl LII.

“Everybody in the league sort of envies the success to some extent, and rightfully so,” Eagles coach

said Monday of the Patriots, aiming to become the first team to win consecutiv­e Super Bowls since the 2003-04 Patriots (who beat the Eagles in the second of those). “They've been there, done that many times, and that's something that every other team would love to have. It's impressive, obviously, and it's well-respected and well-documented. At the same time, we're just going to prepare the same and try to block out all the noise.”

That news elicited a big shrug from the Eagles, who unwittingl­y started a trend after a divisional victory over Atlanta when Philadelph­ia’s and pulled on matching German Shepherd masks they had stashed on the sideline. Those masks promptly sold out online, and Johnson has raised more than $100,000 for Philadelph­ia schools with the sale of his “home dogs” T-shirts.

“People can do whatever they want; count us out, count us in,” Eagles running back said. “We’re playing in the Super Bowl. They’re going to have to sit back and watch us do that.”

The theme of the overlooked Eagles is likely to resonate throughout the week leading up to the Feb. 4 game. The Eagles are the biggest underdog since the Arizona Cardinals were seven-point underdogs to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLIII nine years ago, a game that went down to the wire with the Steelers winning, 27-23. Even Eagles owner

conceded after Sunday’s win that the situation looked bleak on that flight home from Los Angeles in early December when the team had beaten the Rams but lost secondyear quarterbac­k

to a season-ending COMMENTARY knee injury.

“You feel like you played a great game in L.A., you have the best record in football, and you lose your most valuable player, or maybe the league’s most valuable player,” Lurie said. “However, we made such a concerted effort to make sure we could get

back on the team. Who knew it would come to this?”

Both the Eagles and Patriots lost cornerston­e players this season. In addition to Wentz, Philadelph­ia lost nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle

and playmaking middle linebacker

Atop the list of Patriots who missed the season were linebacker

and receiver both pivotal players in last year’s Super Bowl victory.

Neither team is bemoaning those losses, however. First, because it would do them no good. And also, look how far they have gotten, with those injuries being galvanizin­g events.

“The goal was never that we wanted to win the Super Bowl with X, Y and Z doing it,” Eagles safety

said. “The goal was: We want to get it done by any means necessary.”

The biggest question surroundin­g the Patriots now concerns another injured player: When will tight end be able to return? He was knocked out of Sunday’s victory over Jacksonvil­le with a concussion and is now in the league-imposed protocol, meaning he’ll have to pass a series of cognitive tests before he’s allowed to resume practicing with the team. It’s not inconceiva­ble that New England’s most colorful player could be kept out of the media spotlight in the days leading up to the game.

As for the Patriots’ most important player, quarterbac­k he’ll be front and center. Again.

“He’s definitely the greatest quarterbac­k of all time,” Jenkins said of Brady, who will be starting in his eighth Super Bowl. “But that doesn’t mean he’s unbeatable. We’ve got a destinatio­n that we’re getting to, no matter who’s in front of us. We’ve got some place to go. We’re not worried about what’s in front of us; we’re going to run through whatever it is.”

For both the Eagles and Patriots, postgame Sunday was time to pull on newly minted conference championsh­ip T-shirts and hats and simply celebrate. At times during the season, the Patriots seem to be joyless robots, so it was interestin­g to see New England defensive coordinato­r head-coach-to-be of the Detroit Lions, doing snow angels in the confetti after the win over Jacksonvil­le.

Patricia explained on a conference call Monday that his young son had come to Gillette Stadium, and they were having some fun.

Thirteen years ago, Brady led the Patriots to a 24-21 victory over the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonvil­le. That might as well have been a century ago for these young Eagles.

 ?? TIM TAI/TNS ?? Eagles DE Chris Long celebrates with a German Shepherd mask Sunday after the NFC Championsh­ip game.
TIM TAI/TNS Eagles DE Chris Long celebrates with a German Shepherd mask Sunday after the NFC Championsh­ip game.
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