On wing of Foles, Eagles go soaring into Super Bowl
PHILADELPHIA — Confetti filled the air, fireworks erupted overhead, and 69,596 fans sang “Fly, Eagles Fly!” No one dared head for the exits. There was too much to celebrate. The Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. The makeshift podium hadn’t taken space on Philadelphia’s turf in 13 years. That’s how long it had been since the Eagles last held a postgame celebration like they did after the 38-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. They have a Feb. 4 date with the New England Patriots in Minneapolis, creating a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX, won by New England.
“We’re not only going to Minneapolis,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie told the fans while accepting the Eagles’ third George Halas Trophy. “We have something to do in Minneapolis. One more win!”
Lurie added that he has never seen a group “want to win so badly for Philadelphia.”
The underdog Eagles dominated the Vikings, allowing the crowd to start chanting “Super Bowl! Super Bowl!” well before the clock expired. Some Eagles fans donned dog masks, and they won’t go out of style. In two weeks, they go against the ultimate Goliath.
In the battle of backups, Nick Foles played more like a franchise quarterback. Just a few weeks after he was viewed as the Eagles’ biggest deficiency in the postseason, Foles played one of the finest games of his career on the biggest stage of his life. With an injured Carson Wentz watching from the sideline, Foles completed 26 of 33 passes for 352 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
“Words can’t describe what I feel,” Foles said. “All glory goes to God. I’m grateful and humbled to be part of this team. No one in the locker room doubted me. We kept working, I got more reps in practice, and it’s a rhythm thing.”
Case Keenum, the University of Houston product who completed the “Minneapolis Miracle” pass on the last play against the Saints to put the Vikings in this game, couldn’t match Foles’ rhythm, finishing 28-for-48 for 271 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions, one returned for a score.
Keenum congratulated Foles, his former Rams teammate, in the tunnel after the game.
“He did a great job,” Keenum said.
Offseason moves pay
All five of the Eagles’ TDs were scored by players Eagles executive Howie Roseman acquired during the offseason: Patrick Robinson, LeGarrette Blount, Alshon Jeffery twice and Torrey Smith. Roseman was named Executive of the Year last week, and Sunday offered an infomercial for his roster construction.
Maybe more, it was a testament to Doug Pederson’s coaching effort this season. Pederson, whose coaching credentials were a hot topic entering Week 1, will try to outwit Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl. Pederson’s play-calling remained adept Sunday, and his leadership has guided the Eagles all season.
The torn ligaments in the knees of Wentz, Jason Peters and Darren Sproles didn’t stop the Eagles. They weren’t undone by Jordan Hicks’ ruptured Achilles tendon or in-season absences of Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, Rodney McLeod, and Ronald Darby. The team encountered hurdles all sea- son, overcoming them every time.
Pederson saw the seeds of this success during the summer. He said then that the Eagles’ talent compared to that of his Green Bay Packers teams that reached the Super Bowl twice in the 1990s. It drew skepticism at the time, but the last four months illustrated Pederson’s clairvoyance.
“All of that has kind of culminated,” Pederson said Friday. “I think you look back on it and you go, wow, maybe it was true-type thing.”
The Vikings entered Sunday with the NFL’s top-ranked defense and the best third-down defense since at least 1991. The Eagles accumulated 456 yards and went 10-of-14 on third downs. Minnesota had no answer for the Eagles, whose defense has not allowed more than one touchdown in four consecutive games.
Any concern in Philadelphia lasted about eight minutes of the game. The Vikings drove downfield on the opening drive and scored on nine plays, then forced the Eagles to punt on their opening possession.
Then came a play that will be remembered in Eagles history as the moment the game tilted in their direction. Chris Long burst around the left edge and extended his arm to disrupt Keenum on a third-and-8. Keenum’s pass fluttered in the air, allowing Patrick Robinson to camp under it for an interception at midfield. The Eagles coach their defensive backs on interception returns, and it’s a point of pride among the defensive backs. Robinson sprinted the width of the field and raced past the Vikings for a touchdown that tied the score at 7.
Scoring blitz
The 7-7 score lasted for one quarter before the Eagles exploded for 17 points in the second. Blount bullied the Vikings’ defense for an 11-yard touchdown run to cap a 12-play drive that was extended by Zach Ertz’s two third-down catches.
Minnesota had driven into the red zone late in the second quarter when Derek Barnett rushed unimpeded around the left edge to sack Keenum and pop the ball loose. Long recovered to give the Eagles’ defense its second forced turnover of the game and halting a potential Vikings scoring drive. It might have been painful for Vikings fans to watch Barnett pummel Keenum; the Eagles drafted Barnett with the first-round pick they acquired from Minnesota in the Sam Bradford trade.
The Vikings were also candidates to land top wide receiver Jeffery in free agency last March. He chose Philadelphia, and he gave the Eagles a two-score lead when he ran deep for a 53-yard touchdown pass from Foles on third-and-10. The touchdown came while All-Pro cornerback Xavier Rhodes watched from the sideline nursing an injury.
Jake Elliott’s 38-yard field goal as the second-quarter clock expired gave the Eagles a 24-7 halftime lead, and Foles wasn’t finished. Neither was Pederson.
The Eagles started the second half with possession, when Pederson called the Eagles’ first fleaflicker of the season. Foles handed the ball to Jay Ajayi, who tossed it back to Foles, who threw deep downfield for Smith. He caught the 41-yard touchdown pass, giving the Eagles a 31-7 lead.
From there, it was just a matter of counting down the minutes until the Super Bowl became official.