Super Bowl 2023: Philadelphia Eagles

They are part of the NFL’s permanent inventory.

The Philadelphia Eagles have been playing in the premier league since 1933 – only five teams have a longer history.

However, not everything ran smoothly in the city, which is enormously crazy about sports, during this time. Five years ago, however, the Eagles finally celebrated their first Super Bowl victory. Will they repeat that triumph in Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs?

SPORTS1 introduces the franchise from the northeastern United States.

The Pennsylvania team was founded 90 years ago. It took over from the Frankford Yellow Jackets, who had gone bust. However, the team around co-owner Bert Bell, who became commissioner of the NFL after the Second World War, was not really successful. Defeats rained down so that hardly any tickets were sold.

The franchise temporarily merged with rival Pittsburgh Steelers during World War II. They only played one season under the name Phil-Pitt Eagles or Steagles, but still managed to win more (5) than lost (4) – the Eagles hadn’t managed that until now.

After the end of the war, the franchise experienced a resurgence thanks to head coach Greasy Neale, who was hired in 1942. Although they initially had to give way to bitter rivals from New York, they made the playoffs for the first time in 1947. In the final, the Chicago Cardinals proved too strong, resulting in a 21:28 loss.

A year later, however, they retaliated and won 7-0 against the Cardinals. A year later, the team defended the title against the Los Angeles Rams, which they defeated 14-0 thanks to a strong defense again.

After Neale’s resignation in 1950, however, the successful times were over for the time being. It was only after a decade without much success that Head Buck Shaw led the team back to the NFL Finals in 1960.

In the duel with the Green Bay Packers, they retained the upper hand and won 17:13. MVP-winning quarterback Norm Van Brocklin subsequently retired, leaving the champion in need of a new playmaker.

After that, the franchise struggled for a long time, so the fans had to endure many defeats again. It was Dick Vernell who turned things around in 1978 and brought playoff football to the city of brotherly love.

Together with quarterback Ron Jaworski, who came by trade from the Rams in 1977, the team even made its debut in the Super Bowl in 1980. There, however, the Eagles did not live up to their role as favorites and clearly lost 10:27 to the Oakland Raiders.

The team did not return to the finals of the NFL until 24 years later under a certain Andy Reid. The coach who is now employed by the Kansas City Chiefs and thus by the opponent in Super Bowl LVII.

The legendary coach and quarterback Donovan McNabb, who was drafted second in 1999, formed a congenial duo that posed a number of major problems for the NFL’s defenses. The big hit was not to succeed, however, because in 2004 Tom Brady and his New England Patriots narrowly won the Super Bowl with 24:21.

Only Doug Pederson, a former playmaker from the Eagles and Reid’s apprentice, redeemed the fans. In 2018, the Eagles defeated the Patriots 41-33 in the finals – even though MVP quarterback Carson Wentz was unavailable in the playoffs due to a serious injury.

It was his backup Nick Foles who not only made the legendary Philly Special play, but also lifted Philadelphia’s first Vince Lombardi trophy.

Five years later, however, the faces of success are different. So now Jalen Hurts is “under center”. The 24-year-old is part of one of the best offensives around star receivers AJ Brown, Dallas Goedert and DeVonta Smith and center legend Jason Kelce.

Well-known names like Ndamukong Suh, Fletcher Cox and Haason Reddick are also on the defensive, making life extremely difficult for the opposing quarterbacks.

The team is coached by Nick Sirianni, who was once fired from the Chiefs by Reid. Coming from the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021, he quickly developed a system that leveraged the team’s strengths.