| Philadelphia Eagles Road to Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego | |
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Last
January the Eagles traveled to St. Louis and lost to the Rams in the NFC Championship game.
Since that day the Eagles have had three major goals; to get back
to the NFC Championship, to host that game in Philadelphia, and to win the game
and play in Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego.
Having achieved the first two of those goals, the Eagles will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 19 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. It will be the last professional football game played at the Vet. Next season the Eagles will move across the street to their new home, Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles' move to a new stadium will come one game too late for Tampa Bay. Veterans Stadium has been a house of horrors for the Buccaneers. In each of the past two years, their season has come to a screeching halt with playoff losses at the Vet. Following last year's defeat, the Buccaneers fired their long-time coach Tony Dungy, replacing him with former Raiders coach (and former Eagles offensive coordinator), John Gruden.
In what Buccaneers fans had hoped would be a triumphant return to Philadelphia under their new coach, Gruden's Buccaneers visited the Vet on October 20, 2002 and suffered yet another lopsided defeat, 20-10. This Sunday, Tampa Bay will once again come north. They will be welcomed by temperatures that are expected to be below freezing at kickoff, and with a chilly reception from Eagles fans. In their history, Tampa Bay has played 22 games where the temperature at kickoff was 40 degrees or less. They have won just one of those games - their final game of this regular season in Champaign, Illinois, against the last place Chicago Bears.
All signs point to another Eagles victory and that trip to San Diego. So, should the players just start packing now for the warm weather of Southern California? Not so fast.
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Sunday's game will feature what almost everyone agrees are the top two defenses in the NFL. It will feature two quarterbacks, Donovan McNabb and Brad Johnson, who both spent extended portions of the regular season injured. Both of whom looked very sharp in last weekend's games.
Sunday's game will feature two teams whose offenses, at times, appear to be able to steamroll over their opponents, but, at other times, appear to be totally ineffective. The game will feature two of the best coaches in professional football today, Philadelphia's Andy Reid and Tampa Bay's John Gruden.
On paper this game should be close, but the game will not be played on paper. It will be played in Philadelphia at Veteran's Stadium which will be filled with 60,000 screaming, yelling and insane Eagles fans.
So, what will happen? Look for the Eagles to win again. I'm looking at a 20-13 final score. Until the Buccaneers show that they can win in Philadelphia in January, you have to think that they will, once again, see their season end in the City of Brotherly Love.
Getting to the NFC Championship game in his first year as head coach of the Buccaneers is a major accomplishment for John Gruden. For the Eagles, a victory on Sunday is the next logical step. It will take them to the one place that they have missed since 1980 - the Super Bowl.
For more coverage of the road to Super Bowl, check out About's Guide to the Super Bowl and NFL Playoffs
photo by John Fischer