Notes On Seasons Before Super Bowl Triumphs

The Philadelphia Eagles win in the “Jack Ham #’d”/59th Supe marks just the fourth time in 46 possibilities (’79-2024, the first wild card round tilts were played in ’78) that the champion won it all after losing in the NFL wild card round in the previous season.

Philadelphia has been “involved” in 3 of the 4 situations, including this season’s as last season ended for the Eagles in a wild card round loss at Tampa Bay vs the Buccaneers, the conclusion to their “free fall” season for which they more than atoned in winning the franchise’s second Supe in 8 seasons and fifth NFL crown, one more than the team they defeated, the Chiefs as well as the Browns (according to NFL records), Rams (they gave Phil its toughest ‘offs test, nearly overcoming a late 13 point deficit, before falling by 6 points as barely “covering” underdogs) and the Lions, against whom Philly would have likely been slight road underdogs but Wash a franchise as with Dallas and San Francisco also has 5 NFL crowns, more than seemingly did “el” Eagles a good turn, ripping the NFC top seed Lions.

Another instance of a previous season’s wild card round losing team winning it all the next season also involved the Eagles and Buccaneers in the reverse way as in ’01 and in fact in ’00, the Eagles wild card rounded the Bucs, who bounced back to win it all in ’02, beating current Chiefs’ coach and both a 3 time Supe winning and Supe losing coach, Andy Reid and the Eagles in the “semi”/NFC title game at Philadelphia.

One more “involved” Philly as in ’06, the Eagles no covered the Giants in their wild card round game at Philly while the next year they won the title, clinching/claiming it in a Super Bowl win vs current Fox Sports lead analyst, Tom Brady (both he and Burkhardt kept telling us that the game’s result, a clear Philly rout was still in doubt–that rhymes and those 2 are no poets, instead shilling to keep viewers tuned) and the (18-0) New England Patriots.

The other team to get wild card round ousted the year before winning the crown were the 2010 Green Bay Packers who lost (51-45) at Arizona in a 2009 wild card round tilt before winning it all in 2010.

Why Jack Ham?

Many reasons: He was a great player, wore 59, the Eagles and Steelers once were merged as the Steagles but most of all because had the Chiefs, who have been excellent, won last Sunday, they not only would have matched the (’65-’67) Packers with 3 straight crowns but also the (’74-’79) Steelers with Ham (no cheese that I know about) with 4 titles in 6 seasons.

They did not get it nor did they deserve such status.