The Perfect Combination
Nothing Has Brought More Championships to the Eagles than An Elite RB/WR Combination.
If you are looking for one constant that has always led to championships for the Eagles besides great defense, look no further than an elite running back/wide receiver combination.
And man, do they have a great one this season…
Two contract extensions for DeVonta Smith (3-year, $75 Million) and AJ Brown (3-year, $96 Million) and the signing of All-Pro and former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley (3-year, $37.75 Million) have already placed the Eagles as an 18–1 favorite to win the Super Bowl.
In Philadelphia, we’ve seen this before. With America at war in 1944, hardly anyone noticed the NFL Draft, otherwise called the 1943 Preferred Negotiations List. Hosted at the Philadelphia Warwick Hotel, the draft got very little fanfare. If people didn’t notice the LSU running back who was selected with the #5 overall selection — they soon would.
After selecting Steve Van Buren in 1944, the Eagles selected WR Pete Phihos from Indiana University in 1945. Phihos would become the #2 ranked wide receiver in the league in 1948 and scored on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Thompson in the 1949 NFL Championship Game against the LA Rams. The Eagles played in the Championship Game in 1947 and won it in 1948 and 1949.
The 1960 team featured wide receiver Tommy McDonald and running backs Timmy Brown and Clarence Peaks. McDonald also caught the winning touchdown in the 1960 Championship against the Packers, an Eagles Championship that stood alone for 58 years.
When former UCLA Coach Dick Vermeil brought the Eagles out of mediocrity in the late 1970s, he did so with another dynamic duo. When the Eagles drafted Abilene Christian’s Wilbert Montgomery, combined with the 1971 pick of Southern’s Harold Carmichael, the Eagles would advance to play the Raiders in the Super Bowl in 1981.
And in our finest season perhaps ever—a 2018 Championship that the off-season acquisition of Alshon Jeffrey along with obtaining Lagarrett Blount and Jay Ajayi.
We can’t forget two honorable mentions. In 2005, Terrell Owens’s signing was the icing on the cake, bringing the Eagles to the Super Bowl, complimenting All-Pro running back Brian Westbrook.
And, of course — 2023 — the year that nearly saw the best campaign ever for Miles Sanders in an Eagles uniform with over 1,000 yards, the acquisition of A.J. Brown in the off-season, and Devonta Smith’s second season in the NFL nearly brought the Eagles their second Lombardi Trophy in five years.
And in 2024–2025? They’ve re-signed two of the best wide receivers in the league as well as one of its best running backs.
It feels like 1947–1949 all over again.
PHOTO: NFL Network/YouTube
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Categorized:Eagles