Five years after their first Super Bowl victory, the Philadelphia Eagles are back in the big game. Led by coach Nick Sirianni, quarterback Jalen Hurts and a fierce passing rush, the Eagles hope to defeat a team of Chiefs who is also looking for his second Super Bowl victory in recent years.
Sunday will mark the fourth Super Bowl appearance for the Eagles, who played in their first Super Bowl at the end of the 1980 season. Four coaches led the Eagles to the big game: Sirianni, Hall of Famer Dick Vermeil, current Jaguars coach Doug Pederson and Andy Reid, who will try to defeat his former employer on Sunday.
The Eagles went 1-2 in their first three Super Bowls. Here’s a look at what happened in those games ahead of Sunday’s showdown in Arizona.
Super Bowl XV: Raiders 27, Eagles 10
Philadelphia beat Oakland in Week 12 after recording eight sacks from Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett. History didn’t repeat itself in the Super Bowl, however, as Plunkett was only fired once. The former Heisman Trophy winner, who started the 1980 season as a backup, earned Super Bowl MVP honors after throwing for 216 yards and three touchdowns. Plunkett’s play helped the Raiders become the first wild card team to win the Super Bowl.
Plunkett deserved his MVP, but the award could also have gone to Raiders linebacker Rod Martin, who beat Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski a record three times.
The turning point of the game came at the end of the first quarter. Trailing 7-0, the Eagles appeared to even the score after Jaworski hit Rodney Parker for 40 yards. But an offside penalty erased the score and the Eagles were left with no points on the disc after kicking off two plays later.
Oakland jumped on the Eagles’ mistake, as Plunkett and Kenny King connected on a Super Bowl-record 80-yard touchdown pass on Raiders possession.
Super Bowl XXXIX: Patriots 24, Eagles 21
After three years of failure, Reid’s Eagles finally made it to the Super Bowl. Their reward was a match against the Dynasty Patriots, led by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
The Eagles faced the defending champions for most of the game. Philadelphia took an early lead and was able to tie the score before halftime after falling behind briefly. The Eagles offense was boosted by returning wide Terrell Owens, who caught nine passes for 122 yards despite a broken leg and torn ligament in his right ankle less than two months earlier.
As good as Owens was, he couldn’t do anything to stop the Patriots from taking control of the game after scoring on back-to-back second-half drives. The first drive, which was punctuated by Corey Dillon’s short touchdown run, was set up by 13, 12 and 14 yard completions to fellow running back Kevin Faulk.
The Eagles scored a late touchdown to make things interesting, but it was too little too late. Philadelphia’s last gasp was tossed into the air by Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, who earned the Patriots the third win in four years. The MVP went to Deion Branch, who tied a Super Bowl record with 11 receptions for 133 yards.
Super Bowl LII: Eagles 41, Patriots 33
One of the most exciting Super Bowls of all time capped off a magical run for the Eagles and Nick Foles. Foles, who replaced injured starter Carson Wentz with three games left in the regular season, earned MVP honors after throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns. Foles more than held off his counterpart, Brady, who in the loss threw for a Super Bowl-record 505 yards.
The most memorable play of the game was not a throw but a catch from the Eagles quarterback. Leading 15-12 late in the first half, the Eagles faced a fourth-and-a-go from the Patriots 1-yard line. Instead of playing it safe, Pederson called “Philly, Philly”, a trick play that allowed Foles to receive a pass thrown by tight end Trey Burton.
Philadelphia briefly trailed in the fourth quarterback before taking a definite lead on Foles’ 11-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz. The Eagles picked up their first Super Bowl win when Rob Gronkowski was unable to contain Brady’s Hail Mary uprising on the final play.
Running back Corey Clement led the Eagles with 100 receiving yards, including his 22-yard touchdown reception midway through the third quarter. New England had a record three players reaching for 100 receiving yards, with Danny Amendola leading with 152 yards on eight catches.