NFC Playoffs: Eagles Smash Their Way into the Super Bowl

Sportsbooks figure home-field advantage is worth three points when they're drawing up lines.

Bovada set the NFC title game at Minnesota -3, which meant prevailing opinion had the Vikings a touchdown better than the Philadelphia Eagles.

This was despite teams playing indoors were 0-12 coming into this game.

They, of all experts, shoulda realized that numbers just don't lie.

 

Philadelphia spotted their doomed visitors a touch, and then got serious.

When their total annilihation had nothing left to devastate, the Eagles noted their 38-7 rout and made plans for Minneapolis, of all places.

 

Well? It's gonna be played in an indoor stadium, and with all the Scandinavian heritage up there, a little Swedish might go a long way.

That'd sorta harken back to Super Bowl XV in New Orleans, where the Eagles got meal money and the Raiders got bail money.

That's also when Jim Plunkett morphed from draft bust to Super Bowl MVP in a mere three months.

 

Now, maybe it's the Eagles' turn to feature a resurrected slinger in the big game.

Nick Foles just took a very good Vikings defense apart:

• Dude was 26-33 for 352 yards, 3 TDs, and no picks;
• He was 10-11 for 152 yards on third downs; and
• He zoomed in with laser accuracy on his 41-yard scoring bomb to Torrey Smith.

Of course, this was due in no small measure to a Philadelphia o-line that turned in their best performance of the season. Full marks to C Jason Kelce, who didn't seem to miss a blocking-scheme call all night.

Dude's done it his entire career, including the Eagles' first playoff game against the Chiefs:

 

Put it all together, and a full-on beatdown comes into view:

 

And so it went.

Now, they've got two weeks to heal up and prepare for the ultimate challenge in the Super Bowl-hardened Patriots.

So do their fans.

 

Fortunately, depth at RB shouldn't be an issue.