This week in Philly history, Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb finally earn a trip to the Super Bowl
On Jan. 23, 2005, Andy Reid's Eagles finally broke through for an NFC championship win.
This one just felt different.
And it started with the snow.
A nasty winter storm, coasting into town amid 20-degree temperatures, dumped a foot of the white stuff on the green-clad city. And it forced an extensive cleanup of Lincoln Financial Field right before the venue hosted the NFC championship game on Jan. 23, 2005.
Head coach Andy Reid had won a lot of games as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles to this point, with a 64-32 record, but he hadn’t gotten his team to the Super Bowl.
He led his teams to the NFC championship the three previous seasons. And each time, to the dismay of the Philadelphia sports fan base, he came up empty.
Reid, as well as quarterback Donovan McNabb, took the brunt of the blame. And heading into the 2004-05 season, both were under a lot of pressure to get the job done.
At the time, the Eagles had made only one other Super Bowl appearance, back in 1981. And while the Eagles had collected three titles in the pre-Super Bowl era, their trophy case had remained empty of Vince Lombardi Trophies, while each of their three NFC East rivals had several.
The fans, obviously, took all this well.
They believed in a curse associated with a statue’s hat, since the city hadn’t celebrated a sports championship since the 76ers won in 1983.
So in the run-up to the season, general manager Joe Banner made a few key player additions, the most notable being future Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens.
And after recording their then-best season record, 13-3, the Eagles faced off against the Michael Vick-quarterbacked Atlanta Falcons in the NFL semifinal matchup, with the winner heading to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Fla., to face the New England Patriots.
McNabb threw two touchdown passes, David Akers kicked two field goals, and the Jim Johnson-led defense held Vick, an all-time running quarterback, to only 26 rushing yards.
It was Reid’s first trip to the Super Bowl as a head coach. He’d leave the team in 2012, and has since won three titles with the Kansas City Chiefs.
But it was the only Super Bowl appearance for McNabb and Owens, who returned for a heroic performance after having broken his leg during the season.
The city celebrated its NFC championship well into the frigid night, but two weeks later, they would lose to the Patriots — the same team the Eagles would beat to win their first Super Bowl 13 years later.
It wasn’t quite Philly’s time to be special.
Staff writer Anthony R. Wood contributed to this article.