On Sunday night, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears by a score of 16-15, in the wildcard playoff game. It was a closely contested battle throughout. Both defenses played very well. The Eagles’ offense finally made some progress down the field in the fourth quarter to take the late lead on a fourth down and goal pass from Nick Foles to Golden Tate. The Eagles then attempted to make a 2 point conversion that failed and everyone thought it was a done deal.
Nick Foles had another very good game. I thought it was all going to be for naught when Chicago proceeded to take the next kickoff and drive the ball down the field, with less than a minute to play, to set up for the game-winning field goal. And to make matters look even worse, the Chicago kicker was a former Eagle, Cody Parkey. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that the earlier missed two point conversion would come back to haunt the Eagles and the Bears would pull out the victory
Then in a true stroke of luck, the field-goal kick was partially blocked and then deflected off the upright post and crossbar to the ground, NO GOOD! This is unquestionably one of the craziest endings I’ve ever seen for an Eagles football game in the 20+ years l've been watching them.
This week, the Eagles have to play the number one NFC seed, the New Orleans Saints, on the road at the Superdome. It will be difficult for the team to focus on this game after the way they beat the Bears last week, but they really have to play their best game of the season to have a legitimate chance to beat the Saints. Their regular season meeting was a lopsided Eagles defeat 48-7. It's going to be a hold-your-breath kind of game to watch.
Come on Eagles!
In college football, the Clemson Tigers beat that Alabama Crimson Tide by the impressive score of 44-16. These two teams have dominated the landscape of college football for the past four years. Either Alabama or Clemson has won the national championship every year. The first half of the game was fun to watch because both teams were going up and down the field scoring touchdowns. I was quite surprised that the Clemson offense was able to take control of the game and dominate the Alabama defense.
I hope next season another team can crash the party so there is no rematch. Maybe Georgia, LSU or Notre Dame can make a run to make the playoffs more compelling.
See you on the sidelines!
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
