Super Memories
Plenty of Eagles have Super Bowl memories of Minneapolis ahead of return
PHILADELPHIA » The Eagles will return Sunday to the scene of their greatest triumph in the NFL’s salary cap era. That would be U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesapolis, where the Eagles earned their Super Bowl LII title and birthed Philly-Philly, the trick play in which tight end Trey Burton threw a touchdown pass to Nick Foles.
It was one of those games where there were no could-haves or should-haves, just an epic 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots that ended with safety Rodney McLeod hanging in the air to bat away Tom Brady’s jump ball intended for Rob Gronkowski.
“All I was thinking was, not on me, don’t be that guy,” McLeod recalled. “And I really didn’t want it to have it go into overtime with Tom Brady.”
It’s been 22 months and a lot of roster turnover since the Eagles flew home with their Lombardi Trophy. Surprisingly, 17 of the 22 starters are still around, plus the entire three-man kicking operation. Just 26 players from the 53man Super Bowl roster are still on the payroll.
“I don’t think guys will really think about that game too much,” McLeod said. “It’s two years removed. But we’re hoping some of those plays show up for us, the good ones we had in that game, being back in that stadium.”
Eagles center Jason Kelce expects some of the emotion from that momentous night will return when the team checks in to play the Vikings. Like McLeod, Kelce doesn’t expect the sentimentality to last.
“It probably will bring back some memories but obviously when you’re in the situation where you’ve got to play a game you don’t really get all the time in the world to have sentimental feelings,” Kelce said. “We’ll be up there prepared for Minnesota. These guys, it’s not a rivalry but it’s pretty close. We’ve had a lot of meaningful games against Minnesota. They’re a great team. They’ve got a great defense, a good front. So, we’re going to have our hands full this week.”
Both the Eagles and the Vikings are 3-2 as well as 2-2 in the conference.
*** One of the foremost media authorities on football, @RickGosselin9, noted that there were nine 300yard passers and eight 100-yard rushers last weekend. The passers’ teams went 4-5. The rushers’ teams were 7-1.
Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz loved the stat so much he referenced it Tuesday.
“We have always put a big emphasis on stopping the run,” Schwartz said. “When you can do that, that allows your pass rush to be able to go. So, we put an emphasis on it. Our guys pretty well know what to do.”
Then there were the Vikings, who in a 28-10 beating of the Giants had a 300-yard passer in Kirk Cousins and a 100-yard rusher in Dalvin Cook. With 542 rushing yards, Cook trails only Christian McCaffrey (587) for the NFL lead.
*** Per Stats LLC, the Eagles still lead hte league in dropped passes, three by Mack Hollins, two by Jordan Howard and one each by Nelson Agholor, Darren Sproles, Dallas Goedert, JJ Arcega-Whiteside and DeSean Jackson.
On the plus side, the Eagles are the first NFL team to record 10 sacks and score two defensive touchdowns since 1982, when the sack became an official stat.
Brandon Graham contributed a career-high three sacks and cornerback Orlando Scandrick added two strip-sacks.
*** NOTES >> The Eagles are 14-14 versus the Vikings. The Birds have won two of the last three games and seven of the last 10. … With two interceptions, Eagles linebacker Nate Gerry is tied for third in the league with a plethora of others.