National Football League

'It's a Philly thing': Eagles join Phillies, Union in reaching championship

Published Jan. 29, 2023 9:44 p.m. ET

Reaching the championship stage of your sport? It must be a Philly thing.

The Philadelphia Eagles' 31-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's NFC Championship Game secured their spot in the Super Bowl on Feb. 12 (only on FOX and the FOX Sports App). It also made the Eagles the third Philadelphia professional sports team in the past six months to reach their respective championship round.

The Philadelphia Union of the MLS and the MLB's Philadelphia Phillies made the MLS Cup Final and World Series, respectively, in 2022.

It has been over 40 years since Philadelphia sports has seen that level of winning. In 1980, the Julius Erving-led Philadelphia 76ers reached the NBA Finals, the Phillies reached the World Series, the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers reached the Stanley Cup, and the Eagles reached the Super Bowl (in January 1981).

Of those three, however, only the Phillies finished the job, defeating the Kansas City Royals in six games, while the 76ers, Flyers and Eagles all lost in their respective championship rounds.

This time, it appears up to the Eagles to ensure that a Philadelphia team finishes with a championship. The Union lost to LAFC in the 2022 MLS Cup Final, and the Phillies lost the 2022 World Series in six games to the Houston Astros.

Some other cities have experienced similar cross-sport success in recent years. The NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021, while the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in early 2021 and the Tampa Bay Rays of the MLB reached the 2020 World Series but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 2018 New England Patriots and 2018 Boston Red Sox won the Super Bowl and World Series, respectively, while the 2018-19 Boston Bruins of the NHL lost to the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals.

'They deserve a trip to the Super Bowl'

Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen talk about the Philadelphia Eagles defeating the San Francisco 49ers to head back to the Super Bowl.

The Eagles do have some history on their side heading into this Super Bowl. Per FOX Sports Research, they became just the fifth team ever to win in the NFL playoffs divisional and conference championship rounds by 21 points each. The other four teams all would up hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

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