Making It Count

Posted: July 8th, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Making It Count

I was watching some NFL Network the other day when they did a special on the 1991 Falcons. You remember them, right? They won 10 games, finished second in their division and celebrated like they were the ’72 Dolphins.

Jerry Glanville was the over the top coach of this wild bunch. Deion Sanders was the best player. Andre Rison was his partner in crime, with the two of them bringing flash and attitude to the NFL in a major way. MC Hammer was a regular on the sidelines and the team adopted his song “2 Legit 2 Quit” as their theme.

Seeing that special was a fun trip down memory lane. But it also provided some good perspective.

The special talked about how important the 1991 team was to Falcons history. They won. They had personality. They brought fun to Atlanta. While this is true, we’re still talking about a 10-win team that got in as a wild card. Take away the celebrations and their isn’t much special about that team.

This got me to thinking about the Eagles (shocker!). Prior to 2017, we would talk about how much we loved some flawed teams in Eagles history. Everyone loved the Super Bowl teams of 1980 and 2004, but I’m talking about other years.

The 1979 team that won 11 games, beat Dallas and won a playoff game.

The 1988 team that won the NFC East and showed BuddyBall could work.

The 1991 team that featured one of the great defenses of all time.

The 1992 team that delivered the first playoff win of the Gang Green era.

The 1995 team that won some memorable games and had one of the most incredible playoff wins in team history.

The 2000 team that rode the back of Donovan McNabb all the way to the playoffs after a 3-year absence.

The 2002 team that saw Koy Detmer and A.J. Feeley replace an injured McNabb and still kept winning.

The 2008 team that finished 9-6-1 (you can tie a game?) and almost made it to the Super Bowl.

The 2010 team that gave us the best Michael Vick there ever was.

The 2013 team that showed us the good side of Chip Kelly in the NFL.

The 1992, 1995 and 2002 teams will always have a special place in my heart. I had huge amounts of fun watching those teams play. They gave me memories that will last a lifetime.

But then came the 2017 team. They gave us a Super Bowl.

 

As much as I love the 1992 team beating the Saints in the wild card game…as much as I love the 1995 team beating Dallas in the 4th & 1 game and then putting 58 points on the Lions in the playoffs…as much as I love the camaraderie of the 2002 team and the way they won games…winning the Super Bowl was better.

Thank god the Eagles are no longer one of the organizations that has to focus on “fun teams”. What is your favorite Vikings team of all time? There were the four teams that lost the Super Bowl. There was the 1998 team that went 15-1, but didn’t even get to the Super Bowl. Maybe you love the 2009 team with Brett Favre at the helm.

The 2017 Eagles made it count.

They went 13-3 in the regular season. They dominated in the NFC title game. Nick Foles and Doug Pederson beat Brady and Belichick in the Super Bowl. No short cuts. No flukes. They were the best team in the league that year. And they made sure to win it all.

The 2007 Patriots went 18-0 before losing in the Super Bowl. The ’98 Vikings choked in the NFC title game. They were 16-1 going into that game. The 2016 Falcons weren’t great by any stretch, but they led the Super Bowl 28-3 and somehow blew that lead and lost.

When you have a special team, you have to make it count. You have to win the key games, most especially the final game.

And the Eagles did all their butt-kicking with big smiles on their faces. They celebrated. They danced. They ate ice cream. They had a blast. Unless you were a rival, I don’t see how you couldn’t enjoy that team.

The current Eagles team is getting a lot of hype. Expectations are going to be sky high. I don’t know if this bunch will be able to deliver another Super Bowl. One thing I do know is that they won’t have the pressure of trying to be the first Eagles team to get the Lombardi. The 2017 bunch took care of that.

Just go play and win. And we’ll see what happens.

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