Eagles' all-time do-over is just as painful now as it was then

After exceeding all expectations and losing to the St. Louis Rams in the NFC Championship game in 2001, a new era of Eagles football was official here and they were about to go on a historical run. Not in the best way though.

The Eagles were coming off nearly two decades of no Super Bowl appearances before former head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb came in 1999 and changed everything. Entering the 2002 season, expectations were high for a Super Bowl run, and they backed it up with a 12-4 record and a number one seed in the NFC playoffs.

All was good with a 20-6 blowout win over former Eagles quarterback Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Divisional Round. But then, January 19, 2003, came when the Eagles faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship game and the suffering of Eagles fans began in a different way than the 80s and 90s.

Eagles' one do-over moment came during the 2002 season

CBS Sports writer Bryan DeArdo shared every franchise's do-over moment in their histories. For the Eagles, it was a soul-crushing loss to the Buccaneers in the 2002 NFC Championship game that marked the final game at Veterans Stadium before it was demolished, and the Eagles moved to Lincoln Financial Field.

"Down 20-10, the Eagles were on the verge of making it a three-point game with 3:27 left in the 2002 NFC Championship game against the Buccaneers. After two consecutive completions to Antonio Freeman, Donovan McNabb looked his way one too many times. On first-and-goal from the Buccaneers' 10-yard line, McNabb's pass intended for Freeman was picked off by Rhonde Barber, who stepped in front of Freeman before racing across the field for the game-clinching score. 

In hindsight, McNabb probably would have thrown the ball to Duce Staley, who was open on the other side of the hash marks. The loss was the Eagles' final game at Veterans Stadium, the franchise's home for more than 30 years."

It was a tale told too often during the early 2000s: McNabb gets hurt during the regular season, comes back in the postseason, and folds in the biggest game of the season. This loss to Tampa Bay was not only the send-off of Veterans Stadium that no one wanted, but it started a chain reaction of misery for one of the best teams in the last two decades.

The Eagles would go on to lose two consecutive NFC Championship games at home before finally winning one in 2004 against the Atlanta Falcons. It would only lead to the team losing to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl right after. At least Philadelphia got poetic justice against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in the 2017 season, with the Eagles' first Super Bowl win being against the Patriots.

Those years in the 2000s were a mix of great times and many tough memories. The Eagles made five NFC Championship games during that decade, but won only one of them. It was just year after year of Super Bowl aspirations that ended in tears for Eagles fans.

It appears the dark days of disappointment are behind the franchise now that the Eagles have two Super Bowl titles in the last eight years. Times are pretty good now for Eagles fans that they can look at those memories more fondly.

Maybe.