Recapping the Eagles' 16-Win Journey to Super Bowl LVII
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The Eagles are one of the last teams standing in the marathon that is the NFL season.
It’s been 20 weeks and 19 games since the season began and all that’s left of the 32 teams that began the race are the Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
Here is a look back at the journey that led to a second Super Bowl trip since 2017.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 11: EAGLES 38, LIONS 35
It was a tougher-than-it-looked opener against the darling of Hard Knocks, where Dan Campbell was running old-school, fully-padded, hard-hitting training camp practices whenever he was allowed to by the CBA.
The Eagles jumped to a 24-14 halftime lead, something they would do quite often, but the Lions didn’t go away, closing to 38-35 with 3:51 to play on a D.J. Chark TD catch.
Just like their penchant for holding leads at halftime, the Eagles showed a sign of what they would do all season. After the Lions pulled to within three points, they never saw the ball again because the Eagles flexed their running game muscles, running the ball seven times, picking up two first downs, then kneeling out the remainder of the clock.
Highlight: CB James Bradberry’s 27-yard interception return for a touchdown in his first game with the team.
MONDAY, SEPT. 19: EAGLES 24, VIKINGS 7
This was a statement win since the Vikings proved to be a resilient team all season long, earning the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, and it was dominant, yet another sign of things to come from this team.
Jalen Hurts completed 83.8 percent of his passes (26-for-31) for 333 yards with another 57 yards rushing. He had two rushing scores and threw for another.
Highlight: The Eagles picked off Kirk Cousins three times, with Darius Slay getting two and Avonte Maddox one.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 25: EAGLES 24, COMMANDER 8
DeVonta Smith was at his acrobatic best, setting new single-game highs in catches (8) and yards (169) with one TD. Jalen Hurts threw for three scores – Smith, A.J. brown, and Dallas Goedert.
Highlight: The Eagles sacked Carson Wentz nine times, with Brandon Graham notching 2.5.
SUNDAY, OCT. 2: EAGLES 29, JAGUARS 21
Nobody knew it then, but the Jags would grow into a playoff team. They held a 14-0 lead with Jalen Hurts throwing a pick-6. The Eagles scored 29 unanswered points to put the game away, as Miles Sanders ran for a career-high 134 yards and the defense forced five turnovers from Jags QB Trevor Lawrence – four fumbles and one interception from James Bradberry.
Highlight: Haason Reddick showed what was to come with two strip-sack fumbles.
SUNDAY, OCT. 9: EAGLES 20-17
Cameron Dicker’s 23-yard field goal in his pro debut with 1:45 to play was the difference after Cardinals kicker Matt Ammendola missed from 43 yards in the final seconds.
Highlight: The offense used a 17-play drive, that included 13 runs, to chew up 7:58 of the clock before getting Dicker’s winning kick to break a 17-17 tie.
SUNDAY, OCT. 16: EAGLES 26, COWBOYS 17
Another game, another halftime lead, the team’s fifth straight open the season. This one was 20-3 with backup Dallas QB Cooper Rush struggling for the first time since taking over for injured Dak Prescott and going 4-0 without an interception. The Eagles fixed that.
Highlight: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson had two interceptions and Darius Slay one.
SUNDAY, OCT. 23: BYE
SUNDAY OCT. 30: EAGLES 35, STEELERS 13
Jalen Hurts and A.J. brown couldn’t be stopped. The QB throw four touchdown passes in the blowout win while Brown had 156 yards and three scores – from 39, 27, and 29 yards.
Highlight: The defense held the Steelers to only one third-down conversion in 12 tries and forced two more turnovers to give them an NFL-best 16 on the season.
THURSDAY, NOV. 3: EAGLES 29, TEXANS 17
For the first time this season, the Eagles didn't hold the lead at halftime. The Texans played a tough first half and a touchdown in the final minute of the second quarter sent them into the locker room at intermission tied, 14-14.
Order was restored in the second half with the help of another INT from Chauncey Gardner-Johnson that set the Eagles p in Houston’s red zone.
Highlight: Dallas Goedert had eight catches for 100 yards, including a 4-yard TD that gave the Eagles their final points.
MONDAY, NOV. 14: COMMANDERS 32, EAGLES 21
The Eagles 8-0 record finally gets its first blemish. It was the first time Philly trailed at halftime all season as they lost the time of possession 40-plus minutes to less than 20 minutes.
Lowlight: the Eagles lost the turnover battle, 4-2, with three fumbles and a Jalen Hurts interception.
SUNDAY, NOV. 20: EAGLES 17, COLTS 16
In danger of losing for the second straight week, the Eagles scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to come back from a 13-3 deficit after three quarters. Quez Watkins began the comeback with a 22-yard TD catch then Jalen Hurts finished it with a QB draw up the middle untouched from 7 yards with 1:20 to play.
Highlight: As the Colt tried to get into field position to win the game, Brandon Graham all but ended it with a 7-yard sack of Matt Ryan to turn a third-and-9 into fourth-and-16 with less than 40 seconds to play.
SUNDAY, NOV. 27: EAGLES 40, PACKERS 33
The Eagles ran right over Green Bay, rushing for 363 yards, the most ever in the Super Bowl era, and just 15 yards away from breaking the record set in 1948.
Highlight: Jalen Hurts had 157 yards and became the first player in NFL history with 150-plus rushing and passing yards, and Miles Sanders broke a career-high set earlier in the season with 143.
SUNDAY, DEC. 4: EAGLES 35, TITANS 10
This was the beginning of the end for an overmatched Titans team, who entered at 7-3 but lost seven straight to end at 7-10.
Highlight: Jalen Hurts won his second straight NFC Offensive Player of the Week Award with 380 yards passing, three touchdowns in the air, and one on the ground.
SUNDAY, DEC. 11: EAGLES 48, GIANTS 22
The Eagles’ second straight blowout win and the first of three beatings they would deliver to their NFC East rival. The win made the Eagles the first team to clinch a playoff berth.
Highlight: Miles Sanders set another career-high with 144 yards while scoring two touchdowns to give him 11 and going over 1,000 yards rushing for the first time in his career.
SUNDAY, DEC. 18: EAGLES 25, BEARS 20
It was a costly victory that made the Eagles 13-1 when Jalen Hurts was driven into the frozen grass at Soldier Field with one minute to play in the third quarter ad suffered an AC sprain in his throwing shoulder. Both DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown went over 100 yards receiving.
Highlight: Hurts’ 68-yard pass to Brown with 4:20 to play set up the Eagles’ final score to distance themselves from upset-minded Chicago. The QB threw for 315 and ran for 61, including three rushing scores.
SATURDAY, DEC. 24: COWBOYS 40, EAGLES 34
Playing their first game with Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew stepped in, and did OK, but was undone by two interceptions and a costly botched handoff. A Miles Sanders fumble deep in Eagles territory was their fourth turnover and gave Dallas a late lead Philly couldn’t overcome.
Highlight: Minshew threw for 355 yards with DeVonta Smith hauling in two touchdowns.
SUNDAY, JAN. 1: SAINTS 20, EAGLES 10
Another Gardner Minshew start, and a second straight loss. He threw a pick-6 to Marshawn Lattimore with 5:27 to play in a game the Eagles were still in a 13-10.
Highlight: DeVonta Smith had nine catches for 115 yards and the Eagles' lone TD came on a 78-yard completion to A.J. Brown.
SUNDAY, JAN. 8: EAGLES 22, GIANTS 16
The win wrapped up the NFC’s No. 1 seed in a game that wasn’t that close as the Giants played their reserves. Jalen Hurts returned and helped Philly race to a 19-0 lead despite a conservative game plan designed to keep his still-ailing right shoulder from getting damaged further.
Highlight: Jake Elliott kicked a career-high five field goals from 32, 52, 39, 54, and 22 yards.
PLAYOFFS
JAN. 21: EAGLES 38, GIANTS 7
Once again, New York was no match for Philly and the Eagles vanquished their rivals for a third straight time to advance to the conference title game.
Highlight: Kenny Gainwell ran for a career-high 112 yards as the eagles punished New York on the ground with 268 yards.
JAN. 29: EAGLES 31, 49ERS 7
Haason Reddick was a terror, knocking 49ers starting QB Brock Purdy out of the game until he had to return again when Ndamukong Suh gave backup Josh Johnson a concussion in the third quarter. Reddick had two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery as Niners coach Kyle Shanahan refused to account for him in his blocking schemes.
Highlight: The win was the Eagles' 16th and pushed them into their second Super Bowl in six seasons.
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.
