It felt like the Eagles won the Super Bowl at Lincoln Financial Field.
Except indoors. And with a lot of purple around.
And with the Super Bowl LII logo at the 25 yard lines.
But the volume was punishingly loud for Patriots fans — outnumbered at least 3-1 in Minneapolis Sunday night.
Not often in life does something of this magnitude live up to the hype. But this did. It was a 41-33 victory on paper, with over 1,000 combined yards and more big plays that can be recounted in one column.
The deafening Patriots’ boos no doubt lit an even hotter fire in Tom Brady, looking to improve his Super Bowl record to 6-2.
Which made it even sweeter watching him drop a wide open bulls eye pass on a wide receiver option pass. If anyone was wondering which quarterback was a better wide wide receiver, the answer is Nick Foles. His catch on a double-reverse from Trey Burton on fourth down, well, it showed how big Doug Pederson’s balls were. And his cajones grew ever larger on a fourth down conversion in the fourth leading to an epic bobbling reception by Ertz to give the Eagles a too-slim five point lead.
The Eagles ONLY defensive stop of the night was the decider, and the collective tears of joy began flowing for an entire city.
Eagles fans were the hungriest in sports and are getting their first meal.
Similar streaks ending for the Cubs, Astros, and even Red Sox in recent years don’t have the same feel as this one. Their fan bases may be passionate and storied, but Eagles fans have gone through a lot.
Not just the near misses. Or the great players who never brought home glory. But the ridicule. The continued unbridled successes of Boston and New York, also in the northeast corridor. There were no Eagles Super Bowl memories for broadcasts to share — only snowballs at Santa, fans punching horses and climbing poles in Center City.
This changes the narrative.
And creates a new generation of legends. Alshon Jeffery, Foles, even Corey Clement will become household names for decades. Pederson too.
Philadephians, get ready for the biggest parade in sports history. And for 52 weeks of celebration for the Super Bowl LII champs — god knows this city will never stop.
