Philadelphia Eagles resurrect the ‘underdog’ rallying cry in Glendale

Five years ago, offensive tackle Lane Johnson, defensive end Chris Long, and defensive tackle Beau Allen started a mini-phenomenon. Following the Philadelphia Eagles‘ Divisional Round playoff victory over the Atlanta Falcons, they threw on dog masks. Everyone noticed. Fans everywhere followed suit, and just like that, it became impossible to find dog masks on Amazon.

Everyone knows how the 2017-2018 Eagles tale ended. As representatives of a blue-collar city that celebrates a fictional boxer and prides itself on an ‘underdog’ mentality. The craze spread like wildfire. Five years later the Birds are back in the big game.

They’re favored by most of the oddsmakers, but don’t tell them that, they’ve reignited the underdog mentality. They’re carrying an attitude that suggests they believe the world is against them and they’re the team that everyone is picking to lose.

Citizens of Glendale beware.

The Philadelphia Eagles have been disregarded all season, but their underdog mentality could lead them to another Super Bowl win.

The Eagles have been disregarded all season. If the conversation didn’t center around this ridiculous notion that they didn’t play anyone (they’re 9-1 versus winning teams), we had to listen to Micah Parsons‘ rants about Jalen Hurts being a “system quarterback” on Von Miller’s Voncast. During the postseason, we’ve endured ridiculous rants from both New York Giants fans AND San Francisco 49ers fans (and some of the players on their respective teams).

Parsons, to his credit, came around. He has since stated that he didn’t want to make any enemies, and he even found his way into some of our good graces by praising the heroic efforts of Lane Johnson, offering that he wants his “big brother” to go and win a Super Bowl for the NFC East. The disrespect continues though, but that’s to be expected.

ESPN toyed with the notion at various points of the season that the Dallas Cowboys had a higher chance of winning the Super Bowl than the Eagles even though Philly had won the first head-to-head meeting and held a better record than Dallas all season.

Then there’s Jerry Jones. The Cowboys owner recently made the claim that the Eagles had to “empty the bucket” to win it all.

Jalen Hurts, Miles Sanders, Jason Kelce, and Devonta Smith were all Eagles draftees. Sure, there was the offseason trade to acquire wide receiver A.J. Brown and key additions, but much of Philly’s talent is homegrown. They’re also well-led. Fans and observers had doubts about Nick Sirianni, but in just two seasons, he has guided the Eagles to a 23-11 record, two playoff appearances, and possibly a second Super Bowl win.

As the game of games approaches, it will be intriguing to see if the Eagles, who still have a few Super Bowl-winning players from the 2017 roster, will be able to capitalize on their underdog mentality and ride that wave to a victory.