Philadelphia Eagles

Of all the notable achievements registered since the Philadelphia Eagles were incorporated in 1933, perhaps none is more noteworthy than this Wikipedia note: “studies that attempt to rank the 32 fan bases in the NFL consistently place Eagles fans among the best in the league, noting their “unmatched fervor.” Indeed, Forbes placed Eagles backers as #1 among football fandom in 2008.

As this is written after the Philadelphia Eagles’ utterly improbable Super Bowl LII victory over *those* New England Patriots, NFLbets reckons the best way to run down the franchise’s history would be doing so in backward fashion.

That wild 41-33 Eagles victory (hope you had the over!) was the culmination of building an offense set to compete in the fast-paced, pass-first style of today deep into the 2020s beyond young franchise QB Carson Wentz. Though the Philly defense was indeed great in 2017, note that Brady had a record-shattering field day against ’em in the Super Bowl. Instead, the Patriots offered up a well below-average (on their best day) D and the Eagles’ (let’s face it) average QB used his arsenal of weapons to win.

The roster itself was pieced together by head coach Doug Pedersen & Co. from the wreckage left by Chip Kelly. Kelly’s reign of not-quite three years was something of a speed bump in Eagles history: Philadelphia has enjoyed playoff football fairly consistently going back to 1978, and no era was more marked by success – though no Super Bowl win – than that of Andy Reid. Between 2000 and 2010, Reid’s Eagles, usually spearheaded by QB Donovan McNabb and RB Brian Westbrook, made the playoffs nine times and lost one Super Bowl to who else.

Reid may be considered the greatest Eagles’ coach of all-time, but Dick Vermeil enjoyed a nice run in the late 1970s/early 80s, when QB Ron Jaworski and WR Harold Carmichael helped the team fo four consecutive playoff runs and the team’s first-ever Super Bowl appearance, Super Bowl XV.

Which is not to say that the Philadelphia has never won championships until 2018: Hall of Fame QB Norm Van Brocklin led the 1960 Eagles to 10-2 regular season and title game win over the Green Bay Packers, while the post-war Eagles may be considered the greatest team of the 40s, with a 28-7-1 mark from ’47 to ’49, three championship-game appearances and two wins.

For the official Philadelphia Eagles website, click here.