Football <\/p>\n
It was a season, and more specifically, a postseason run, that we will never forget.<\/p>\n
Five weeks of do-or-die football. Four playoff games. Three at the friendly confines of Lincoln Financial Field and a fourth played in front of a decidedly raucous pro-Eagles crowd in New Orleans. With each game in these playoffs, the Birds\u2019 dominance grew, culminating in a historic beatdown of the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> in Super Bowl<\/a> 59.<\/p>\n Historians will debate which Super Bowl victory was more satisfying. In Super Bowl 52, the underdog Eagles were trying to overcome a decades-long championship drought with a back-up quarterback against Tom Brady\u2019s Patriots. Last Sunday night, their dismantling of Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid indicated the Eagles could be on the cusp of a dynasty of their own. <\/p>\n Both will have their own place in our hearts, but what we just saw over the last five weeks was record-breaking dominance.<\/p>\n They scored more points in the conference championship round and Super Bowl combined than any team in NFL history. Yep, more than the 1989 49ers<\/a>, 1985 Bears, 2007 Patriots, and any of the other high-scoring offenses in the league\u2019s 59-year history of playing this game, saving their absolute best for the two biggest games of the season.<\/p>\n So before I offer my official top-10 ranking of the best moments from the Eagles 2024\/25 playoff run, let me give you my favorite highlight from Super Bowl 59 that did not make this list. To the casual observer, this appears to be a highlight of Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. celebrating a tackle on a kickoff return late in the game, when in actuality, it\u2019s actually a Jake Elliott highlight. Just watch until the end.<\/p>\n Oh, and one more honorable mention.<\/p>\n What an incredible moment for Mekhi Becton in tears after winning the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n \u201cThey welcomed me with open arms here. You would\u2019ve thought I got drafted here the way they welcomed me. I\u2019ve never been around a connection like this since high school.\u201d<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/Y3BCSX4eCf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) February 11, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Thinking of all the work, sweat and effort football players put into this game, the time away from his wife and young children, his time in New York where he was called a \u201cbust\u201d and almost certainly felt like his career was slipping away from him. For him to come to Philadelphia, get coached up by Jeff Stoutland, work his tail off and become one of the best offensive linemen in football and winning a Super Bowl title, well, those emotions say it all.<\/p>\n Now, onto the top-10.<\/p>\n Oren Burks : 5 tackles & a forced fumble (recovered by Jeremiah Trotter Jr) \u2014 Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) January 13, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n First play of the playoffs. Oren Burks, at this point a back-up linebacker and special teams player before ultimately taking ably taking over for an injured Nakobe Dean over the final three playoff games, makes a statement before the postseason is more than five seconds old by smashing into All-Pro kick returner Keisean Nixon on the opening kickoff and forcing a fumble, setting up a Jalen Hurts-to-Jahan Dotson touchdown that gave the Eagles a blink-and-you-missed-it 7-0 lead in their wild card match-up against the Packers<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was a portent of things to come.<\/p>\n If Frankie Luvu being an idiot is what gets the Tush Push banned from the NFL, there is no justice in the world. <\/p>\n The game was over by this point, but in an NFC Championship<\/a> Game that featured a slew of turnovers created by the defense and was such a blowout for most of the second half, this was one of the truly memorable moments of this game. Highest of comedy and, in my mind, terrific television.<\/p>\n Super Bowl 59 will always be the game we remember most from the 2024 season, but the snow game against the Rams in the Divisional Round will always be a close second. There are two other plays from this game on this list, but we would be remiss if we didn\u2019t include the stellar job kicker Jake Elliott and punter Braden Mann did in successfully executing multiple field goals during a snowstorm. <\/p>\n I can barely walk from my front door to the car when there\u2019s snow on the ground, so it was impressive to watch Mann flawlessly handle a couple high snaps and place the ball down expertly, and for Elliott to keep his footing on these very difficult kicks. The first snow kick came with 2:24 left in the 3rd quarter and gave the Birds a 16-13 lead, his second gave them a 19-15 cushion and then his third, the most difficult of the three, was a 37-yarder that made it 22-15 with just over six minutes left in the game.<\/p>\n The Eagles needed all of those field goals and, had Elliott missed any of them, the Rams may have pulled off the upset.<\/p>\n With Philadelphia holding a 10-3 lead late in the 3rd quarter, Hurts found his tight end Dallas Goedert on a quick-hitting pass in the flat that Goedert caught, turned upfield and then abused cornerback Carrington Valentine with three successive stiff-arms for a 24-yard TD and a 17-3 lead that felt much larger than that with the way the defense was playing that day.<\/p>\n We forget that coming into the playoffs, Jalen Hurts had missed the final two games of the regular season with a concussion. For much of the wild card round against Green Bay, it appeared as if he was still finding his footing a bit, but in the divisional round against the Rams, Hurts displayed some Saquon Barkley-like breakaway speed of his own on this ridiculous 44-yard TD run.<\/p>\n Last year, Hurts never seemed to have that extra burst that made him so dangerous in 2022. This year, it was back and on full display as the Eagles jumped on L.A. early and showed what makes #1 so dangerous.<\/p>\n The Rams came really, really close to pulling off a shocking comeback in the divisional round. It was way too close for comfort. After Barkley seemingly iced the game with a long touchdown run (we\u2019ll get to that in a moment), Matthew Stafford led the Rams on a lightning-quick TD drive that made it 28-22 with 2:48 left. After an Eagles 3-and-out, Los Angeles got the ball back and was driving for the go-ahead score, with the ball at the PHI14 and 1:14 left on the clock.<\/p>\n With the defense suddenly reeling and facing a 3rd-and-2, Carter made an unbelievable move and beat the center for an unobstructed path to Stafford, burying him for a nine-yard loss. Stafford\u2019s 4th-and-11 pass sailed high and wide and the Eagles were on to the NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n Had Carter not delivered that sack, it might have been the Rams facing the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n Eagles vs Commanders: NFC Championship<\/p>\n They “took over” the Hard Rock and then got Rocked Hard Edition, courtesy of the Commanders Radio Network with Bram Weinstein and London Fletcher<\/p>\n 1. SAQUON. BARKLEY.<\/p>\n “One play. Eagles take the lead. Touchdown Saquon Barkley.” pic.twitter.com\/twrVpXQFKS<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Nick Piccone (@_piccone) January 27, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n
10. Oren Burks\u2019 Opening Kickoff Fumble vs. Packers<\/h3>\n
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Keisean Nixon : 2 tackles; 4 kick returns for 95 yards & a lost fumble pic.twitter.com\/zZmuBPSjYq<\/a><\/p>\n9. Tush Push Destroys the Commanders<\/h3>\n
8. Jake Elliott and Brandon Mann Beat the Snow<\/h3>\n
7. Goedert\u2019s Stiff-Arm for the Ages<\/h3>\n
6. Hurts Takes Off<\/h3>\n
5. Jalen Carter Calls Game Against Rams<\/h3>\n
4. Barkley\u2019s NFC Championship Opening Statement<\/h3>\n
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