How many times have the Eagles made the NFC championship? A brief look at Philadelphia's NFL playoff history.
On Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, the Philadelphia Eagles can punch their ticket to their second Super Bowl in three seasons against the Josh Harris-owned Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game.
The Eagles and Commanders are no strangers to the NFC championship game. Sunday will be Philadelphia's ninth appearance and Washington's seventh, but first in 33 years. The winner will advance to Super Bowl LIX and face the Kansas City Chiefs or Buffalo Bills.
Here is a look back at the Eagles' postseason history ahead of Sunday's NFC title game.
A look back at the Eagles' playoff history
For a generation of Eagles fans, postseason football has become the standard.
Since Jeffrey Lurie bought the team in 1994, Philadelphia has made the NFL playoffs in 19 of its 31 seasons.
Zoom in closer. Since 2000, Andy Reid's second year as head coach, the Birds have been in the playoffs 17 times in 25 seasons.
Nick Sirianni is in his fourth season as Philadelphia's head coach. The Eagles have made the playoffs every season. Sunday will be the team's second NFC championship game under Sirianni.
The Eagles have been in the playoffs in seven of their last eight seasons.
Philadelphia and Washington have played in the playoffs once before. In 1990, Washington beat the Birds, 20-6, in the wild-card round.
Overall, the Eagles have a record of 27-26 in 53 playoff games, 9-11 in 20 wild-card games and 10-7 in 17 divisional-round games.
What is the Eagles' history in the NFC championship game?
The Eagles are back in the NFC championship game, their third appearance since the 2017 season. Eight of the Birds' nine NFC title game appearances have come since 2000. The Eagles have already had the most NFC title game appearances since 2000, with seven. Sunday will be the eighth since the turn of the century.
Before 2001, Philly's only conference championship game was in 1980.
Only the San Francisco 49ers (19; 8-11), Dallas Cowboys (14; 8-6) and Los Angeles Rams (11; 5-6) have more conference championship appearances.
The Eagles are now tied for fourth in appearances with the Green Bay Packers (3-6) and Minnesota Vikings (3-6).
Philadelphia is 4-4 in the conference championship game and is 3-4 since 2001 — 2-0 in its last two appearances.
Under Andy Reid, the Eagles appeared in four straight NFC championships from 2001 to 2004. They were 1-3, finally winning a conference title game in the 2004 playoffs. During this stretch, the Birds were 0-2 at Veterans Stadium and 1-0 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Sunday will be the fourth conference championship game at the Linc since the stadium opened in 2004. The Eagles have yet to lose an NFC title game there. The Eagles will host its sixth NFC championship game since 2000 on Sunday.
In the 2017 postseason, the Birds routed the Vikings, 38-7, in the NFC championship to move on to Super Bowl LII.
In the 2022 playoffs, under Sirianni, the Eagles defeated the 49ers 31-7 to advance to Super Bowl LVII.
The Eagles and Super Bowl history
Before the turn of the century, the Eagles had only one Super Bowl appearance since its 1966 inception: in 1980, when the Dick Vermeil-coached Birds lost to the Oakland Raiders. Since then, the Birds have had much more success getting there.
Since 2000, Philadelphia has been in three Super Bowls. The Eagles won their first Super Bowl in 2018, beating the almighty New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Nick Foles caught a touchdown, and Brandon Graham strip-sacked Tom Brady.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles were in Super Bowl LVII two seasons ago, but they lost in a heartbreaker to the Chiefs. Hurts had a historic night in the loss when he broke the Super Bowl rushing record for a quarterback, becoming the first QB to rush for three touchdowns and the first to throw for a touchdown and run for two or more.
After winning their only NFC championship under Reid, the Eagles lost to Brady and the Patriots, 24-21, in Super Bowl XXXIX.
During the NFL Championship era, the Eagles won three titles in four appearances — 1948, 1949 and 1960.
