Philadelphia Eagles fans waited nearly 60 years to raise their latest NFL championship banner. Then they waited nearly an hour for kickoff before welcoming the defending champs to the field thanks to lingering thunderstorms.
Eagles fans booed their defending Super Bowl champs 30 minutes into the 2018 season
To Philly’s credit, this was a putrid half of football.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
And then they waited fewer than two quarters to boo their home team.
Eagles fans made their voices heard as reigning Super Bowl MVP knelt out the final five seconds of the first half and rallied his team to the locker room. It wasn’t difficult to understand why. Philadelphia and Atlanta slogged through 30 minutes of football that failed to rise to the competency of even a preseason game. After two quarters, the Eagles trailed 6-3 — and that, somehow wasn’t the worst thing about the first half.
Through five possessions, the Eagles had gained just 68 yards. They’d been penalized for 66. Foles, unable to put a horrible preseason behind him, was sacked twice and needed 18 passes to throw for just 65 yards. Philadelphia’s tailbacks averaged just 1.6 yards per carry.
The Falcons were better, but not by much. Atlanta committed nine penalties for 68 yards of their own, contributing to a two-quarter stretch that felt like it might never end. By halftime, Matt Ryan had completed four out of six passes for 78 yards to human cheat code Julio Jones and five of 13 for a whopping 37 yards to everyone else. Together, the two teams combined for more than twice the amount of penalties and sacks (19) than points scored. There’s no amount of $11 beers that would make that look good.
But the booing Thursday night wasn’t just for the home team. Eagles fans also booed the weather announcement that told fans to seek shelter during a thunderstorm:
Before that, they’d booed NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth.
Philly fans love to boo. And sometimes, they boo what they love. On Thursday, after a boring, tedious, mistake-filled first half, that rage landed on the Eagles — and maybe it worked. The second half wasn’t any prettier, but the Eagles got the 18-12 win.
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