The Eagles Can Make The Playoffs, Crazier Things Have Happened

Imagine this crazy scenario for a second.  It's late January and the Eagles are taking on the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in the NFC Championship game.  It's bitter cold, and the Eagles are down by a field goal.  They are on the Packers 5 yard line and time is running out.  The offense hurries up to the line and Mike Vick fires a strike to Desean Jackson for the game winning touchdown.  The Eagles have pulled off the impossible and beaten the Green Bay Packers and Merril Reese announces, "The Eagles are going to the Super Bowl!"

Now for this to happen, the Eagles of course would have to first make the playoffs.  And for them to make the playoffs they have to beat the Cowboys, the Giants have to lose to the Jets, the Eagles then have to beat the Redskins, and the Giants have to beat the Cowboys in the final week.  So basically the Eagles need four things to happen, two of which are in their control.

For all of my skeptics out there I have compiled a list of 3 teams, all in recent memory, who have made the playoffs on the last day in their respective sport, and all went on to achieve greatness.  The first team up is a team you all remember well: the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers.

2010 Philadelphia Flyers

In 2010 the Flyers' playoff hopes came down to the final game of the regular season.  Going up against the New York Rangers, the winner of the game would advance to the playoffs and the loser would go home empty handed.  After three periods, it was tied 1-1, and after a scoreless overtime, the game headed to a shootout to determine the winner.  Danny Briere and Claude Giroux both scored for the Flyers, and Brian Boucher came up with a big save against Olli Jokinen to give the Flyers the victory and send them to the playoffs.

The rest is history.  After beating the Devils in the opening round, the Flyers pulled off the improbable 3 games to none comeback against the Bruins and eventually made it to the Stanley Cup.  Unfortunately, the Flyers fell short of the ultimate goal and lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in 6 games.

Even though the Flyers didn't win the Cup, they went deep into a post season that they weren't even supposed to be a part of in the first place.  It happened for the Flyers and it can happen for the Eagles.

2010 Green Bay Packers

I hate to bring up the 2010 Packers because they eventually ended the Eagles magical run.  But they too made the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.  They beat the Bears on the final day and finished with a 10-6 record the same as the Giants.  It came down to a tie breaker over the Giants to send the Packers to the playoffs.  From there the Packers beat the Eagles, Falcons, and Bears all on the road and eventually beat the Steelers in the Super Bowl for the title.  It came down to the last day of the regular season, and from there the Packers achieved greatness.

2011 St. Louis Cardinals 

As much as it pained me to write about the Packers, it pains me even more to write about the Cardinals who beat my beloved Phillies in the opening round of the most recent MLB playoffs.  But to even have an opportunity against the Phils, the Cardinals needed some help to make the playoffs.  Going into the final 3 games of the year, the Braves held a slight 1 game lead over the Cardinals.  The Braves dropped their final 3 games against the Phillies, and the Cardinals took 2 out of 3 against the Astros to squeak their way into the playoffs.  From there the Cardinals beat the Phillies and Brewers, and miraculously beat the Rangers to win the World Series.

I bring these three teams up to remind you that even when it looks as if a team isn't going to make the playoffs, sometimes all the right pieces fall into place and it just happens.  And once that team is in, it's a completely new season with new opportunities where anything can happen.  For the Eagles, they can't start thinking about the playoffs just yet.  They still have to take care of business against the Cowboys and Redskins and they also need help from other teams.  But the Eagles can make the playoffs on the last day and still be successful.  It happened for the Flyers, Packers, and Cardinals and it can happen for our Eagles as well.  Just keep the faith and remember that on any given Sunday, anything can happen.