Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Eagles secured a Super Bowl rematch on Sunday, and denied the Minnesota Vikings in their bid to make history.
Led by quarterback Nick Foles and a smothering defence, the Eagles posted a 38-7 victory over Minnesota before a towel-swirling crowd so raucous at Lincoln Financial Field that the vast majority of fans stood the entire game.
Foles threw three touchdown passes, the Eagles were remarkably efficient on third down, and their defence harassed Minnesota quarterback Case Keenum all night as the Vikings never got into rhythm.
In two weeks, the Eagles will play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 53, a rematch of Super Bowl 39. In that game, played 13 years ago in Jacksonville, the Patriots won, 24-21.
This year’s game pits the top-seeded teams in each conference. The Patriots advanced with a 24-20 victory over Jacksonville in the earlier game on Sunday.
The Super Bowl will be played at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, and the Vikings were hoping to become the first team to play a Super Bowl on its home field.
The Eagles, who lost star second-year quarterback Carson Wentz to a season-ending knee injury in a Week 14 game at the Rams, were not widely expected to get this far. In fact, they were underdogs in their two home play-off games.
The Eagles didn’t just lose Wentz, but nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters, and playmaking middle linebacker Jordan Hicks.
So often, the Eagles and their fans have come oh-so-close, only to see their hopes dashed. The combination of then-coach Andy Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb got the franchise to five conference title games between 2001-2008, winning just one.
