Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles had finally reached the Super Bowl.
After four-straight playoff losses, including three straight in the NFC Championship Game, the Eagles were back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1981, and for the first time with Reid at the helm.
Standing in the way of that elusive first Lombardi Trophy? Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots.
It was Super Bowl XXXIX, pitting the Eagles against the Patriots, Reid against Belichick, and Brady against Donovan McNabb. New England’s quest for a dynasty against Philadelphia’s dreams of a first.
With Reid back in the Super Bowl this week, squaring off against his old team in Super Bowl LVII, it is the perfect time to revisit Super Bowl XXXIX, and highlight just how close Reid and the Eagles came to that elusive first title.
The 2005 campaign was likely Reid’s best during his time in Philadelphia, as the Eagles won 13 games for the first time in franchise history, and secured the top seed in the NFC by two games over the 11-5 Atlanta Falcons. Philadelphia finished the regular season with a 13-3 record, and their point differential of +126 was not just the best in the NFC East, it was the best in the conference by a wide margin. The Green Bay Packers owned the second-best point differential in the NFC, clocking in at +44.
The Falcons, who finished second in the conference and would meet the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game? They checked in with a +3.
After getting past the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional Round, the Eagles hosted the Falcons — and future Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick — the following weekend.
On that Sunday, the Eagles limited Vick’s effectiveness, holding him to just 26 rushing yards, as Philadelphia dialed back the blitzes they featured all season long, seeking to instead contain Vick in the pocket, and eliminate the explosive plays. As Doug Farrar wrote in the brilliant The Genius of Desperation, Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson went against his own script when facing Vick:
Instead of having his ends follow the run action and guessing wrong no matter what they did, the blitzingest coach in the NFL went completely against type and directed his defenders to back off and react ... He understood that the cold weather and biting wind would take the pass away to a point and thus treated Atlanta’s offense as if it were a 30-year-old Wishbone. Blitz looks were just that — looks for the most part — and those extra defenders would pull back to read and cover at the snap.
Philadelphia won that afternoon by a final score of 27-10, setting up the clash with the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.
In that game, Reid, Johnson, and the Eagles faced a much different challenge in Brady, the game’s quintessential pocket passer. The QB, who threw 28 touchdown passes that season — at that point matching a career-high — was entering the second stage of his long NFL career, where he became more of a force in the passing game.
However, the Eagles did get a boost prior to kickoff, with the return of wide receiver Terrell Owens. The dynamic receiver suffered a severe leg injury at the end of the season, breaking his leg and tearing a ligament in his right ankle. Against the advice of doctors, Owens played in Super Bowl XXXIX — with a pair of screws and a metal plate in his right leg — and played well. Extremely well, in fact, as he caught nine passes for 122 yards, playing all but ten of Philadelphia’s offensive snaps.
The game was a close contest, with the score knotted at ten as the fourth quarter began. It was the first time in Super Bowl history that the game was tied after three quarters. But the Patriots would build a 24-14 lead early in the fourth quarter, thanks to a Corey Dillion two-yard touchdown plunge that capped off a nine-play, 66-yard drive that took 4:51 off the clock.
After a Philadelphia three-and-out, New England scored again, this time with kicker Adam Vinatieri converting from just 22 yards out to give the Patriots a 24-14 lead with 9:21 remaining.
That’s when the New England defense started to flex their muscles a bit.
Minutes later the Patriots notched their second interception of the night. McNabb hit Owens for a 36-yard gain to get the Eagles into Patriots’ territory, but disaster struck on the next snap. McNabb tried to connect with Owens on an in-breaking route, but linebacker Tedy Bruschi snared the low throw, ending the threat.
The Eagles’ defense responded, forcing a New England punt with 5:48 remaining, and the Philadelphia offense took over on their own-21 yard line, down by ten.
What happened next has become the stuff of Super Bowl lore.
The Eagles put together a touchdown drive, covering 79 yards in 13 plays. But the drive took almost four minutes off the clock, leading those in the booth — and nervous Patriots fans watching at home — to wonder why the Eagles lacked any sense of urgency. Calling the game, Joe Buck wondered “[h]ow many Philadelphia fans are screaming at the TV, saying ‘Hurry up!’?” as the Eagles dinked-and-dunked their way down the field. After the game, Reid told reporters that they were “trying” to hurry up, but the explanation was rather lacking: “Well, we were trying to hurry up,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “It was the way things worked out.”
Philadelphia managed to force a three-and-out from New England on the Patriots’ ensuing possession. But the Eagles could not complete the comeback, as McNabb was intercepted for a third time, and the Patriots sealed the three-point win.
The long scoring drive in the fourth quarter was not the only clock management issue Reid needed to address after the game. Prior to halftime, with the score tied at seven, Philadelphia took over on their own 19-yard line with 1:10 left. After a McNabb completion to Todd Pinkston for ten yards, Reid did not call a timeout, and the clock wound down to just 17 seconds remaining. Philadelphia’s drive stalled out, the teams went to the locker room for halftime with the game still tied at seven, and Reid had two timeouts in his pocket.
But the long scoring drive in the fourth quarter only raised more questions, even after answers were provided. And some of those questions came from Eagles players. “I don’t know what happened,” Eagles tight end L.J. Smith said after the loss.
In the days, weeks, and even months after the game, stories of McNabb battling an illness during that long drive surfaced. Center Hank Fraley told the media that McNabb was vomiting during the drive, and other players had to call plays in the huddle: “He fought to the end. He gave it his all. He could hardly call the plays. That’s how exhausted he was trying to give it his all. He exhausted everything he had. He didn’t get a play call in one time. He mumbled, and Freddie Mitchell yelled out the play we were trying to bring in. He was puking at the same time, trying to hold it in.”
Other former players shared that viewpoint. In 2013 it was Lito Sheppard, who called it “subtle.” In 2014 another former Eagles player, fullback Jon Ritchie, stated that McNabb vomited during the drive.
McNabb, however, continues to deny the rumors. Back in 2016 he participated in an “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit and shot down the vomiting story: “No, I didn’t puke. It’s unfortunate that we still talk about this 11 years after playing in the Super Bowl. But, no. That did not happen and hopefully we can stop talking about it. Once again, go watch the game tape.”
Then, of course, there was Owens. The loss in Super Bowl XXXIX set in motion a series of events that would lead to a fractured relationship between the quarterback and receiver, covered in this breakdown by Secret Base:
Following Super Bowl XXXIX, Owens pointed to that drive as a reason he deserved a bigger contract, suggesting that he was “not the one that got tired in the Super Bowl.”
That was not all. In 2020 Owens went further, accusing McNabb of drinking the night before the game. On an episode of “Untold Stories,” Owens had this to say:
”I’ve talked to teammates since then, and know for a fact that he was out the night before. He was out the night before, before the biggest game pretty much of all of our careers. There are people that saw him out the night before that said he was drinking, and I think that contributed to him throwing up in the huddle. He’s obviously had a history of conditioning problems. So for me, knowing all this information, I felt like that was irresponsible, especially for somebody of his caliber, his status, to obviously be the leader of the team, and you’re out the night before the biggest game of your career. You’re out drinking or what have you, and then that maybe contributed to him throwing up in the huddle. It’s just ... not good.”
Ultimately, Super Bowl XXXIX would be the high-water mark of Reid’s time in Philadelphia. The Eagles limped to a 6-10 finish the following season, missing the playoffs. They would get back to the NFC Championship game during the 2008-2009 season, losing to the Arizona Cardinals, and after a 4-12 finish in 2012, Reid’s contract was not renewed.
He left Philadelphia without a Lombardi Trophy but eventually won his first with the Kansas City Chiefs a few years ago. But his reputation for clock mismanagement followed him to the AFC, and might have even cost the Chiefs a chance at the playoffs in 2016,
Now, Reid has a chance to win his second, against the team he brought to the brink back in 2005.
And perhaps put that reputation to bed for good.
