Eagles can claim interesting achievement with a Super Bowl win in Arizona
The Philadelphia Eagles are set to travel to Arizona for their Super Bowl LVII matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. Though Philadelphia and Phoenix are over 2,000 miles apart in terms of distance, Glendale’s State Farm Stadium might as well be Philly’s second home.
Truthfully, it’s gotten to the point where every road game the Birds are featured in feels like Philly is playing in a ‘home away from home, but an Eagles victory on February 12th would give them two wins in Arizona this season and a perfect 2-0 record. That would be one more win than the home-town Cardinals achieved during their 2022 run.
Call us crazy. We haven’t dug up any numbers, but that has to be the first time that has happened. Let’s dig into this one further and discuss some of the good and bad of Philly’s recent history in Arizona.
The Eagles finally put a checkmark in the win column following some disappointing showings in the desert.
Ahead of the 2022-2023 season, the Eagles had enjoyed mixed success versus the Cardinals. Unfortunately, things normally didn’t go well when they traveled to Arizona.
Since 2000, these proud franchises have played 15 times. The Eagles are 7-8 versus the Cards over that stretch. Six of the meetings were played in the state of Arizona.
The Birds won one of those six, a 2001 triumph at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. State Farm Stadium, opened in 2006, and prior to this season, Philly had never won there.
The most disappointing Eagles loss came during the 2008/2009 NFC Championship Game. Philly had battled back from a 24-6 deficit behind the heroic efforts of Donovan McNabb, but the Cardinals came out on top thanks to a late drive to win.
The loss was devastating, and it prevented then-head coach Andy Reid from making a second Super Bowl appearance. This also doubled as Brian Dawkins’ final game in an Eagles jersey.
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Philadelphia also lost regular season games in 2005, 2012, 2014, and 2020. None of these seasons resulted in playoff appearances, and the ’05, 1’2, and ’20 campaigns were among the worst in franchise history.
It may have taken more than 21 years for Philly to notch a needed win in Zona’s new home, but if Philly wins the Vince Lombardi Trophy, no one will mind at all. After years of disappointment and failure at finding ways to win in Arizona, the Birds could claim their second Super Bowl win in franchise history and end the recent streak of the home team winning the big game in their home stadium. That has occurred during each of the past two seasons. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won it all at Raymond James Stadium two seasons ago. The Los Angeles Rams won it all last February.