If You’re Rooting Against Andy Reid in The Super Bowl, You Should Just Stop Rooting For The Eagles

After a 17-7 scare, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs offense exploded just as they did last week with a two touchdown 2nd quarter, followed by two more in the 4th to defeat the Tennessee Titans by a score of 35-24.

Just like that, Kansas City’s fifty year wait to return to the Super Bowl and claim the Lamar Hunt trophy has finally ended, and Andy Reid’s fifteenth year wait to get back to The Big Game has ended as well.

While the rest of Philadelphia has had memories of Super Bowl XXXIX pushed far away by the Eagles epic victory in Super Bowl LII, Reid still hasn’t had his Hollywood redemption arc completed and change his legacy. Super Bowl LIV might be the best chance he’s ever had to win The Big One and may also be the best chance he’ll ever have.

That’s why, simply put, if you’re a still bitter Eagles fan who’s going to root against Reid’s Chiefs on Super Sunday, you should just stop rooting for the Eagles period.

Before Andy arrived in Philly two decades ago as an unproven quarterbacks coach of the Green Bay Packers, the Eagles almost always sucked during the Super Bowl era. Even when they were good during Dick Vermeil Era or the Gang Green era, their success didn’t last long and only mustered one forgettable Super Bowl berth.

During his 14 seasons as Eagles head coach Reid did a lot to restore credibility and consistency to the franchise.

The numbers speak for themselves:

9 playoff appearances in 14 seasons.

10 postseason wins.

5 NFC title game berths.

1 conference championship.

Obviously, there’s one accomplishment he never achieved in Philadelphia and it’s the only thing that really mattered to the fan base. The fact is that no matter how successful he was, every single season he coached in Philadelphia outside of his first three ended in bitter disappointment from the Tampa Bay Game to his unceremonious dud of his Eagles finale in 2012 that ended with a 4-12 campaign.

Reid was kept a little too long as head coach but the reason why was because he had too much success for his own good. The way coaches like Jeff Fisher, Marvin Lewis and Jason Garrett kept their jobs long past their expiration because they were always capable of turning things around after a down year.

For both sides it was time for a change, and I’m sure he was happier to be leaving Philly than the fans were. Reid basically spent his entire Eagles career being killed and scrutinized by the Philly media. That’s obviously the nature of the beast: In this city, there’s more stress on head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles than being the mayor or a city councilman or even the Governor or Pennsylvania.

Reid found a nice place to start fresh in Kansas City where he got to utilize their talented roster back into a playoff team, unfortunately the playoff woes followed him.

The Birds meanwhile made a big splash in hiring the Oregon head coach and unconventional offensive strategist Chip Kelly. For the first season of his tenure the explosive offense seduced Eagles fans into believing he was finally going to be the first Eagles coach to hoist the Lombardi trophy. Only that didn’t last long.

After a series of odd stories to come out of the organization and mind-boggling roster moves only matched by Markelle Fultz and Collars-Colangelo, Chip Kelly rapidly transformed from the Philadelphia Messiah into the Eagles Emperor Nero. That was the moment when Eagles fans should’ve finally appreciate what Andy Reid gave them. Flaws and all, he was still a competent professional head coach who had a plan and had his team play for him. Kelly had none of that, especially when he was put in charge of football operations.

Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman recognized that with Andy Reid they at least had a team that was always competitive and stable. Seeing other coaches from under Reid’s coaching tree like Ron Rivera and John Harbaugh have success, they hired his offensive coordinator and former Eagles quarterback and coach Doug Pederson.

The rest of course is history, and I don’t have to remind you of what’s transpired since. Not only did an Andy Reid disciple finally lead the Birds to the promise land in 2017, but it was won with players drafted or acquired by him such as Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Brent Celek, Jason Peters and Brandon Graham. Oh, and he was the only guy who talked Nick Foles out of retiring from football for good.

While Andy has always had solid quarterback play from the likes of Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and Alex Smith, he drafted and developed the signal-caller that may finally get him his ring and a spot in Canton. In just two seasons as a starter, Patrick Mahomes has already ascended as one of the faces of NFL with a league MVP and an AFC championship win, something only Brady, Manning, Roethlisberger and Flacco have accomplished since 2003.

The stage is set for Super Bowl LIV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers. It will not be an easy task for the Chiefs to get by San Francisco with an elite defense and great ground game, but they at least deserve some backing from Philadelphia Eagles fans rooting for their old coach to get his ring. Besides, don’t you want the Birds to remain the last NFC team to hoist the Lombardi?

The Eagles have been one of the NFL’s most successful franchises of the past two decades and a big part of that is because of Andy Reid. After all’s he done and been through in service to the league, he at least deserves one moment of glory holding the Vince Lombardi and sealing his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Times yours, coach.