They ran a trick play to the quarterback on fourth down in the Super Bowl. The Philly Special. Super Bowl LII, February 2018, Eagles against the Patriots, and instead of a routine field goal Philadelphia direct-snapped to a running back, flipped it around, and threw a touchdown to backup quarterback Nick Foles. The guts of that call still stuns me. They beat Brady’s Patriots 41-33 on a night both offenses refused to punt.

Five trips, the breakthrough and the encore

Philadelphia waited a long time for its first ring. They lost Super Bowl XV to the Raiders and XXXIX to the Patriots before Foles and the Philly Special finally won LII. Then, in February 2025, Jalen Hurts and a brutal defense won Super Bowl LIX in a romp, 40-22 over the Chiefs, denying Kansas City a third straight title. The one ugly note in between was a loss to those same Chiefs in LVII.

What I take from the Eagles

A city that suffered for decades, then won the big one with the bravest call in Super Bowl memory, then came back and dismantled a dynasty to win another. Eagles fans, you turned a long history of near-misses into two trophies inside a decade. The Philly Special is the kind of swing my cautious old franchise never had the nerve for. Respect.