February 6, 2005: Super Bowl XXXIX is held at what was then named Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. (It's now Everbank Stadium.) The smallest metropolitan area ever to host a Super Bowl, J-ville was plagued with hotel, traffic and stadium issues, and is unlikely to ever host another.
The New England Patriots were going for their 3rd Super Bowl win in the last 4 seasons. In the 1st one, they were plucky underdogs that the whole nation could get behind. Now, people were starting to get sick of them. The fact that their neighbors, the Boston Red Sox, had won the World Series the preceding October 27, and their fans were acting sorer as winners than they ever were as losers, made it worse.
The Philadelphia Eagles were in their 4th straight NFC Championship Game, and had finally won it, to advance to their 1st Super Bowl in 24 years. Philadelphia vs. Boston had never been much of a rivalry in the outdoor sports of baseball and football, but was a major one in the indoor sports of basketball and hockey. Due to differences of league alignments, which have usually (but not always) been by geography, this would be the 1st NFL championship game, under any name, between teams from those metropolitan areas; and the 1st final in any sport since 1974, when the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup.
The 1st quarter ended scoreless. The Eagles struck first, early in the 2nd quarter, when Donovan McNabb threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to L.J. Smith. Late in the quarter, Tom Brady threw a 4-yard pass to David Givens, and the game was tied 7-7 as the halftime show was played by former Beatle Paul McCartney.
The teams traded touchdown passes again in the 3rd quarter, Brady 2 yards to Mike Vrabel, a linebacker lining up at tight end; and McNabb 10 yards to Brian Westbrook. It was 14-14 after 3 quarters. The Patriots took the lead in the 4th quarter, with a 2-yard touchdown run by Corey Dillon and a 22-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri, 24-14.
The Eagles had been boosted by the return from injury of Terrell Owens, who had, as he usually did, run his mouth plenty before the game. McNabb's throws to Owens helped set up a 30-yard pass to Greg Lewis, bringing the Eagles to within 24-21 with 1:48 to go. The drive took 3 minutes and 52 seconds, and Eagles coach Andy Reid was later criticized for his poor clock management.
Three of McNabb's teammates -- Jon Ritchie, Lito Sheppard and Hank Fraley -- went on record saying that, during that series, McNabb was throwing up. The video evidence proves that he wasn't, and Westbrook said that McNabb was only coughing. Though some Eagles fans, using their racism to scapegoat McNabb, forgetting that Randall Cunningham had preceded him as a black quarterback for the Eagles, have said he "choked" under the pressure.
The Eagles failed to recover their ensuing onside kick attempt, and had to use up all their timeouts as the Patriots ran the ball. A punt left the Eagles with the ball at their own 4-yard line with 46 seconds left. They needed at least 55 yards to get into David Akers' field goal range.
On 1st down from his own end zone, McNabb was pressured into making a rushed pass to Westbrook at the line of scrimmage. Instead of dropping the pass to stop the clock, Westbrook made the mistake of catching the ball, and was immediately tackled for no gain by Phifer, keeping the clock running, and forcing the Eagles to run back to the line of scrimmage for their next play with no huddle.
On 2nd down, McNabb threw an incomplete pass intended for Owens. On 3rd down, McNabb threw a pass that deflected off of the outstretched fingertips of Smith, and into the arms of Rodney Harrison for an interception with 9 seconds left.
The Patriots had won. It was 3 Super Bowl wins in 4 years, matching the achievement of the 1993-96 Dallas Cowboys. Sports Illustrated named Brady their Sportsman of the Year for 2005
It would be 2 more years before head coach Bill Belichick and his Patriots were exposed as cheaters, and another 11 years after that before the Eagles got their revenge, finally winning a Super Bowl, by beating the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. It would be 2 more years before Reid, as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, won Super Bowl LIV.
UPDATE: In spite of the 2001-08 Eagles' failure to win a Super Bowl despite 5 trips to the NFC Championship Game and 1 to the Super Bowl itself, the following players from that era have been elected to their team Hall of Fame through the 2025 season: Brian Dawkins, Troy Vincent, Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Jeremiah Trotter, David Akers, Tra Thomas, Jon Runyan, Hugh Douglas, Trent Cole; plus defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, ticket manager Leo Carlin, and broadcaster Merrill Reese. But head coach Andy Reid, thus far, has not been elected.
Dawkins, Vincent, McNabb, Westbrook, Trotter, Akers, Reese, and Veterans Stadium and former Lincoln Financial Field public address announcer Dan Baker have also been elected to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.
From the years between the Super Bowl XXXIX loss and the long-awaited win in Super Bowl LII, the Eagles have elected LeSean McCoy and Malcolm Jenkins -- and Reese. Not enough time has passed for anyone to be honored from Super Bowls LII and LIX -- except, of course, Reese.
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February 6, 2005 was, like all Super Bowl days, a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. The NHL season was canceled over the team owners' greed. There were 4 games in the NBA:
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-104 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 103-102 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Toronto Raptors, 122-113 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in
Toronto.
* And the Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-100 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
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