RECAP
Four and eighty-three. In playoff games since 1990, that was the record of road playoff teams with a turnover margin of minus-2 or worse entering Sunday afternoon’s Wildcard showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears. The Bears forced two turnovers while the Eagles failed to force any. Given the disparity in takeaways, conventional wisdom and a simple division problem gave the Eagles a four percent chance of winning their first road playoff game in a decade; however, as anybody who has followed the Eagles for the past year knows, Nick Foles has a knack for defying basic logic and conventional wisdom. On Sunday night, he did it again.
The reigning Super Bowl MVP struggled against the NFL’s top-ranked defense for much of the first half, throwing two horrendous interceptions, including an ill-fated touch pass intended for a quadruple-covered Nelson Agholor.
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Thanks to two uncharacteristic Foles miscues, a dropped redzone interception by safety Tre’ Sullivan, and a drive-extending personal foul call on defensive end Michael Bennett, the Eagles found themselves trailing 6-3 at halftime.
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After an overwhelmingly disappointing first half effort by the offense, Nick Foles and the Eagles drove 83 yards in seven plays to take a 10-6 lead a little over halfway into the third quarter. On their touchdown drive, 53 of the Eagles’ 83 yards came via Chicago penalties, as Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz drew an unnecessary roughness penalty on third-and-10, Foles caught the Bears with twelve men on the field using a quick snap, and Jordan Matthews drew a 33 yard pass interference call on cornerback Prince Amukamara that gave Philadelphia their first redzone opportunity of the afternoon. On the ensuing play, Foles hooked up with rookie tight end Dallas Goedert for a ten yard score that put the Eagles back on top.
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The teams exchanged punts before the Bears drove 62 yards and kicked a field goal that trimmed their deficit to one point early in the 4th quarter. Following an Eagles three-and-out, the Bears got the ball back on their own 20-yard line and looked to second year quarterback Mitch Trubisky to lead a 4th quarter comeback in the first playoff game of his career. After missing a number of throws early on, the former Tar Heel delivered. Chicago utilized 19 and 34 yard completions to get to the Philadelphia 22-yard line before wide receiver Allen Robinson used a slick double move to burn the Eagles’ cornerback Avonte Maddox and give Chicago the lead once again.
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The Eagles offense failed to produce points for the third consecutive possession, managing a measly 15 yards before punting the ball back to Trubisky and the Bears. With 7:02 remaining in the fourth quarter and their backs against the wall, it was up the Eagles defense to give Foles and the offense one more shot to take the lead.
And they delivered.
Nigel Bradham recorded a tackle for loss to put the Bears in a second-and-12 at their own 24 yardline. Not to be outdone, Bennett made up for his first half penalty and sacked Trubisky for a loss of seven yards. The defense held up on third-and-19 and a Pat O’Donnell punt gave Foles and Co. the ball back at their own 40-yard line with 4:48 to play.
That’s when the switch flipped, and the backup quarterback once again turned into the Postseason God on the biggest. It didn’t matter that Chicago entered the matchup boasting Pro Football Focus’s top-ranked defense; it didn’t matter that the Bears were playing their first home playoff game since 2010; it didn’t matter that his team wasn’t supposed to be here; and it didn’t matter that Foles was potentially playing his final game in an Eagles uniform. All that mattered was that Foles had the ball with a chance to win the game.
Foles, staring down elimination for the fourth consecutive week, did what he does best and led the Eagles on a cold-blooded march to the endzone.
The aerial assault began with a 15-yard strike to Alshon Jeffery that put the Eagles in Chicago territory. Two plays later, Foles connected with Goedert, who spun his way through multiple Bear defenders for a first down.
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A few plays later, the Eagles were facing a crucial third-and-9 from the Chicago 13-yard line. On the biggest play of the season (to that point), Foles once again found Jeffery for a huge first down. The 11-yard completion put the Eagles on the doorstep of the endzone, which meant that the Birds would have four cracks at scoring from just inside the 2-yard line.
First Down: Darren Sproles run for no gain.
Second Down: Same play, no gain.
Third Down: Incomplete pass intended for Jeffery.
After failing to convert on any of their first three chances, the Eagles had one shot to gain two yards; if they failed, their season was over. Eagles Coach Doug Pederson pushed all of his chips to the center of the table by calling the Eagles’ first timeout before the fourth down play. If the Bears got the ball back, there was nothing preventing them from kneeling the ball three times and ending the game.
Nick Foles was not going to let that happen; he was going to make sure his Eagles career did not end with a loss on the shores of the Lake Michigan. The stadium in a frenzy, Foles called for the snap on fourth-and-goal. He calmly rolled to his right, adjusted his arm angle, and delivered a perfect pass to wide receiver Golden Tate that gave Philadelphia a 16-15 lead with 56 seconds to play.
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Moments later, Wendell Smallwood came up mere inches short of the endzone on a 2-point conversion that would have given the Eagles a three point lead. All the Bears needed was a field goal to win their first playoff game in nearly a decade. Their drive started off with a bang, as All-Pro return man Tarik Cohen electrified the crowd by returning the ball to the Chicago 42-yard line, putting them less than 25 yards from Cody Parkey’s self-proclaimed 53 yard field goal range. Two plays later, Trubisky found Allen Robinson for a huge gain that gave Chicago the ball on the Eagles’ 33-yard line. Another Trubisky completion put the ball at the Philadelphia 26 yardline. A spike and an incomplete pass brought up a fourth-and-2 for the Bears, who trotted out their kicker, Cody Parkey, to attempt a game-winning 43 yard field. Seconds before the snap, Pederson called timeout as Parkey sent the ball sailing through the uprights as the referees came running on the field to signal the timeout. The entire Delaware Valley breathed a collective, though momentary, sigh of relief.
Less than a minute later, Parkey lined up to attempt a kick he had just drilled with ease. With 10 seconds on the clock, the game rested on the foot of the former Eagles’ kicker. Nobody could have ever predicted what happened next.
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Parkey’s ball took perhaps the most improbable route of any field goal attempt in NFL history. First, the ball glanced off of the hand of Eagles’ newest folk-hero, Treyvon Hester.
https://twitter.com/ScottGustin/status/1082095504970919936
Then it curved ever-so-slightly and hit the left upright before ricocheting straight down to the crossbar, where it hung in the air before falling harmlessly to the ground in the endzone labeled ‘Chicago.’ Even though five seconds remained in the ballgame, a number Eagles stormed onto the field to celebrate with their teammates. The referees cleared the field, Foles kneeled the ball one time, and the Eagles walked away from Chicago with their first road playoff victory since a 23-11 triumph over the New York Giants in 2008.
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REACTION
The next day, many in the Moorestown Friends School community showed up to school decked out in Eagles’ green. WordsWorth caught up with teachers and students to get their takeaways from another improbable Eagles’ victory.
Physical Education and Driver’s Education teacher Erick Cotter told WordsWorth that he was “absolutely shocked” when Parkey missed the field goal, noting that Parkey was “snakebitten” all season. Regarding the team’s performance, Cotter said, “It was tough. [The Eagles] gutted it out. It was difficult the first half, [the Bears] defense was one of the toughest the Eagles played against all season. It’s a testament to how well [the Eagles] play together as a team.”
When asked about the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Senior Micaela Coll said, “It was a very nerve-wracking game, but I was very happy with the outcome. … I think that Cody Parkey needs to be put in a witness protection program.”
Senior Jakob Hull had a different take on the game’s epic final moments, saying that “[The Eagles] got super lucky. The ‘double-doink’ at the end … but freezing the kicker was a great strategy on the Eagles’ behalf.”
Avid Eagles fan and Chair of the Math Department Katie LuBrant summed up the team’s performance by saying, “I think [the Eagles] did well, but the defense played really well and kept them in the game. The offense has to make more contributions next week.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Exactly one week after their Wildcard matchup with the Chicago Bears, the Eagles and Saints will be battling for a spot in the NFC Championship Game at 4:40 EST on Sunday afternoon. The sixth-seeded Eagles (10-7) will travel to the Superdome in New Orleans, La., to face the top-seeded Saints (13-3) who defeated the Eagles 48-7 when the teams meant back in Week 11. New Orleans enters the game as eight point favorites, the largest of any Divisional Round matchup this season.
Can Nick Foles continue on his improbable run and walk out of New Orleans with a victory against the consensus Super Bowl favorites?
At this point, it’s hard to bet against him.
