Eagles Excited to Play at a Rocking Lincoln Financial Field
PHILADELPHIA – Just the thought of a Saturday night playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field sent a shiver down the spine of Eagles receiver A.J. Brown earlier this week.
“I know the place is going to be rocking,” said Brown. “It’s going to be hard to hear, hard to communicate. It’s going to be crazy. We’re going to try to do our best to ball out, put on a show.
“I get chills just talking about it. I’m excited. We have an opportunity that you live for. Definitely going to put my heart into everything.”
The top-seeded Eagles will host the No. 6 seed Giants at 8:15 p.m. on FOX.
“I can’t even imagine, to be honest,” said CB James Bradberry. “I know it’s going to be loud and I’m just anticipating running through the tunnel and feeling all the energy.”
The Giants haven’t won in Philadelphia since 2013, so there’s that.
“I can’t wait,” said RB Miles Sanders. “I just hope we get the same atmosphere as the first Monday night game against the Vikings in Week 2). They had Meek Mill. I’m ready. I’m excited. It’s gonna be a great game.”
It will be just the second playoff game in front of the home crowd since the 2017 NFC Championship Game when Patrick Robinson’s 50-yard interception return ignited a party at the Linc that kept right on thumping with Alshon Jeffery’s 53-yard touchdown catch, LeGarrette Blount trucking safety Andrew Sendejo on his way to an 11-yard score, a Nick Foles flea-flicker touchdown to Torry Smith, and a 38-7 destruction of the second-seeded Vikings, 38-7.
The Eagles were the No. 1 seed that year, too, the last time they were the No. 1 seed until this special 14-3 season.
They were also the last NFL team to win a Super Bowl title as the top seed.
It was the divisional round game in 2017 that proved the most difficult test of the two wins leading up to the victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
The Eagles needed a good defensive play from Jalen Mills in the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 2 with 1:05 to play as Matt Ryan’s pass to Julio Jones fell incomplete and the Eagles hung on for a 15-10 win, in the divisional round.
Saturday night’s game will probably also have some high drama, and that is where the fans could come into play.
“I can’t imagine what this (bleep) will be like,” said Darius Slay, who is playing in the first divisional round playoff game of his 10-year NFL career. “I’m looking forward to it. Eagles fans, please, be loud as (bleep), I don’t want to hear their plays.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
