The underdog Eagles let Tom Brady know they aren’t going to kiss the ring — and will enjoy being able to prevent the “pretty boy” Patriots superstar from getting his sixth.
Following Philadelphia’s 38-7 win over the Vikings in the NFC Championship, the Eagles were listed as 5 ¹/₂-point underdogs against New England in Super Bowl LII — the game’s largest point spread in nine years — but Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson wasn’t intimidated by the prospect of facing the defending champions, and the four-time Super Bowl MVP.
“Hey, Tom Brady. Pretty boy Tom Brady,” Johnson said Sunday night. “He’s the best quarterback of all-time, so, nothing I’d like to do more than dethrone that guy.”
Though the Eagles went 13-3 during the regular season, and were the NFC’s No. 1 seed, they have been underdogs in every game of the postseason, following the late-season ACL injury suffered by quarterback Carson Wentz.
But with backup Nick Foles seamlessly filling in for the MVP contender, the Eagles believe they can take down the 40-year-old king of the sport, who enhanced his already untouchable legacy with a fourth quarter comeback against the Jaguars in the AFC Championship.
“He’s definitely the greatest quarterback of all-time, but that doesn’t mean he’s unbeatable,” safety Malcolm Jenkins said of Brady. “I don’t care who you put out in front of us. This team is destiny. We’re going out there to Minnesota to win this Super Bowl. We’re not going for a field trip. We’re going to win.”
The Eagles are also going with their dog masks, which players, and fans, have been sporting since Philadelphia became the first top-seed to be a home underdog — against the Falcons — in the divisional round since 1970, before toppling the favored Vikings the next week.
Johnson started the postseason phenomenon by wearing a German Shepherd mask, and his underdog teammates quickly joined in, with fans wearing them to games, and selling out Amazon’s entire stock.
“Oh yes,” said Johnson, when asked if the mask would travel to Minnesota. “It’s in my bag right now. I wore it a little bit after the game, but it’s definitely going.”
While the Patriots are looking for their third title in the past four years, and making their record 10th Super Bowl appearance (eighth with Brady and Bill Belichick), the Eagles will head to U.S. Bank Stadium on Feb. 4, hoping to win their first Lombardi Trophy, and end the NFL’s third-longest championship drought (1960).
Though Philadelphia is the biggest underdog since the Cardinals were seven-point underdogs to the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII, six of the past 10 — and four of the past six — Super Bowls have been won outright by the underdog, including the Giants’ two victories over Brady and the favored Patriots.
At the start of the season, the Patriots, as usual, had the best championship odds (5-2), but the Eagles were listed as 40-1 long shots, following back-to-back 7-9 seasons.
“If you have a whole group that thinks the same, acts the same, believes the same things, and believes in themselves and each other, that’s a tough team to beat,” Jenkins said. “We didn’t stop believing, we never stopped believing, regardless of everything that happened to us. The doubters made us stronger. They pushed us together. This is a team I always envisioned. I saw this in New Orleans my rookie year [in 2009, when the Saints upset Peyton Manning and the favored Colts in Super Bowl XLIV].]”
The last time the Eagles were so close to a championship, Brady extended their drought, with New England claiming a 24-21 win in Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005. In the Eagles’ only other Super Bowl appearance (XV), Philadelphia lost as three-point favorites against the Raiders.
“For what they did to us in [2005], to get payback, there would be nothing sweeter than that,” Johnson said. “I remember watching that game when I was 14 years old. I was hoping the Eagles would win. Just coming up short, you could feel the pain, and you could also feel the passion of what this city wants. And we’re here, so it’s right at our fingertips.”