The Philadelphia Eagles Find A Way To Survive And Advance, Thanks To Saquon Being The Greatest Ever, And Are Now Hosting Yet Another NFC Championship Game
The only thing that matters in the playoffs is winning football games. It doesn't matter how you get it done. It doesn't matter what it looks like. You find a way to win, you survive, you advance.
With that being said...it would be so nice if the Eagles just gave us one win that didn't feel like the most excruciating 4 hours of our lives.
That Saquon Barkley 78-yard house call was downright euphoric. It was the first moment all day where it felt like we could actually breathe for a moment and soak this game in. A home playoff game on a field completely blanketed in a layer of snow. It was beautiful. It was glorious. It was a game that reminded you how special the game of football is, and how lucky we are to have it in our lives.
Saquon takes it to the house on his 2nd massive run of the day, puts the Eagles up by 2 scores, finally feels like there's a little breathing room, but we had like 75 seconds to actually enjoy that touchdown. Maybe even less than that. Jake Elliott missed another extra point kick, and less than 2 minutes later the Rams were in the end zone again.
Less than 2 minutes later after one of the greatest runs in Eagles history, it's starting to look like we're about to get our hearts ripped out of our chest and shoved directly up our own assholes. The offense doesn't even make it to the 2-minute warning before they go 3-and-out to give LA the ball again with a chance to march down the field and win the game with a walk off.
Thank the lord above for Jalen Carter. Thank whatever god you believe in that somehow Jalen Carter fell right into the Eagles' lap with the 9th overall pick in the 2023 Draft. Because this right here could ultimately be one of the top 5 sacks in Eagles history. From 3rd & 2 to forcing Stafford to miss Puka Nacua deep on a last ditch 4th & 11 shot to the end zone. A little reminiscent of Matt Ryan missing Julio Jones in that end zone in the 2017 divisional round.
It wasn't pretty (from a football standpoint). It wasn't perfect. But this is playoff football. You just need to find a way to win a goddamn football game, and that's exactly what the Eagles did today. All thanks to Joe Schoen and the New York Giants being the dumbest sacks of shit in professional sports.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Joe Schoen should never have to buy a drink in the city of Philadelphia ever again. The fact that he allowed this beautiful man to simply walk into the Eagles' facility makes the city of Philadelphia forever indebted to his incompetent ass.
26 carries. 205 yards. 2 touchdowns. I know that the LeSean McCoy snow game will always be one of the most legendary performances in Eagles history, but I feel like Saquon's snow game was even better tonight. Granted, his first touchdown wasn't in the snow. But to do what he did tonight in the conditions and in the playoffs? Coming off a 2000+ yard regular season? There's not a doubt in my mind that #26 is going to be retired in Philly one day. 2 more wins will certainly do the trick.
The Other Guys:
- Listen. It wasn't a great night out of Jalen Hurts. He had the big run, which was huge. And he didn't turn the ball over at all, which ended up being one of the biggest differences in this game with Stafford fumbling twice. But the decision making just wasn't quite there. Not his worst performance, but far from his best.
- It's been incredible to see Slay come back to life in these playoffs. There have been plenty of times over the past two seasons where Slay has seemed "cooked", at least to a degree. But he made massive play after massive play out there today, and you could tell he was playing with an extra gear. Who knows how many more miles he has left on his career, but it's great to see him emptying the tank like he is right now.
- Jake Elliott is a problem. It was nice to see him lock in and make those big field goals when he needed to. But you can't keep getting into the end zone and just coming away with 6 points. It's a fucking joke. The field goals were huge, and definitely allowed the Eagles to play a little looser with the lead. But for fuck's sake, man. Just start going for 2.
- Really hope that Quinyon injury is going to heal up in time to lock down McLaurin again next week.
- Lincoln Financial Field will now be hosting it's 3rd NFC Championship Game in 7 years. 2-0 so far, and another chance to make a rookie quarterback's life a living hell next Sunday to go 3-0 in those games. Let's rock.