Stop calling this Philadelphia Eagles, Patriots game a Super Bowl rematch
If anyone else calls a Week 11 Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots game a Super Bowl rematch, please put some tape over their mouths.
Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, there’s something you need to be made aware of. The Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots have a game to play at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday. It’s an important one for both teams, but it isn’t the Super Bowl. That game, ladies and gentlemen, is on February 2nd, which is exactly 12 weeks and a couple of hours after this one kicks off.
Do the Eagles need to win this game? Indeed they do. Will it impact their playoff chances if they don’t? It may or it may not. Will it remove their Lombardi Trophy from the case or add another for New England if they lose to Tom Brady and the Pats? The answer to both of those questions is no.
This is a Week 11 game in the NFL. It isn’t a Super Bowl. It isn’t a Super Bowl rematch. It isn’t even a playoff game. The real Super Bowl rematch actually came on February 4th of 2018. It was in that one that the demons of Super Bowl failure were exorcised. It was in that one that some of the hurt caused by a painful a three-point loss in Philly’s previous attempt at Super Bowl glory took on new meaning.
The Eagles were underdogs in Super Bowl XXXIX when Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb led their team into Duval County on February 6th of 2005 and walked away on the wrong side of a 24-21 final score. Revenge would have to wait for 13 years.
Next. Eagles versus Patriots: 5 Matchups to watch. dark
See, for this to be a Super Bowl rematch, a Super Bowl would need to be played. Philly’s already written that story. Pick up a copy. It reads ‘Underdog Eagles walk into U.S. Bank Stadium with Nick Foles at quarterback and beat the greatest dynasty in the history of sports’.
We’re all waiting for that rubber match one day. Unfortunately, that won’t be on Sunday.