What is Alshon Jeffery’s legacy with these Philadelphia Eagles if it’s over?
By Hunter Doyle
“17” heats up at the end of 2018.
In a must-win Sunday Night Football game versus the Los Angeles Rams, Jeffery went off with 160 yards on eight catches which helped the Eagles to a 30-23 victory in ‘the Coliseum’. Philly would still need to run the table if they had any shot at the postseason, and they did with another huge game versus the Houston Texans a week later. Alshon came ready to play with 82 receiving yards in a 32-30 win to keep Philly’s playoff hopes alive.
In Week 17, the Eagles got some help from the Chicago Bears, who defeated the Vikings, and took care of business against the Washington Redskins with a 24-0 win in which Alshon collected 59 yards and a touchdown. He improved upon his 2017 season by finishing the 2018 campaign with 65 catches for 843 yards and six touchdowns while only playing in 13 of the team’s 16 games.
In the Wild Card Round, Jeffery had a big game versus the Bears, his former team. While Golden Tate’s catch in the end zone and the “double-doink” are the lasting memories of that one, Jeffery helped ‘the Birds’ move the ball with 82 yards on six catches. Without him, the Eagles don’t win that game.
In the divisional round versus the New Orleans Saints, things were going well. Jeffery had five receptions for 63 yards, and despite blowing a 14-0 lead, the Eagles were driving down the field with just a few minutes remaining and hopes of a second-consecutive trip to the NFC Championship Game. Then, it happened.
Eagles’ fans have tried to block it out of their memory, but they can’t. Right before the two-minute warning, Foles dropped back and threw a strike to Alshon. “17” had a rare slip-up, and the ball went through his hands and into the waiting arms of Marshon Lattimore. It felt like time had stopped and not just because that was the last play before the two-minute warning.
This one’s right up there with the Kawhi Leonard quadruple doink.