PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles had taken a quick shot to the teeth and needed to retaliate. That’s when cornerback Patrick Robinson made the kind of play that turns momentum and leads to a championship.
With the Eagles trailing 7-0, Robinson picked off a wobbling pass from Vikings quarterback Case Keenum and returned the interception 50 yards for a touchdown to ignite Philadelphia to a 38-7 destruction of the Vikings in Sunday’s NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field.
Robinson’s touchdown provided the first of 38 unanswered points by the Eagles, who advance to Super Bowl LII where they’ll face the AFC champion Patriots in Minneapolis for the Lombardi Trophy.
“That pick-six really started it for us and we never looked back,” said Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham.
Robinson’s interception return for a touchdown was made possible when Keenum’s arm was hit while trying to pass by Eagles defensive end Chris Long. The ball came out short and low where it was intercepted by Robinson at midfield.
After heading down the left sideline, Robinson cut across the field, got a block from Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby and completed the 50-yard return.
“I went out to the flats and saw the ball coming out and said, ‘This is going to be an easy pick,” Robinson said. “I told myself before the game that if I get a pick, I’m not going out of bounds. So I cut it back up field. I was just running the ball trying to give my team a spark.”
He did just that as the Eagles defense erased an early 7-0 Vikings lead and dominated the remainder of the game.
“They took care of the football and we didn’t,” said Keenum, who threw two interceptions and lost a fumble on a sack.
The Eagles offense wasn’t bad either. It rolled up 457 total yards against a defense that had led the league, allowing just 275.9 per game during the regular season. Quarterback Nick Foles completed 26-of-33 for 352 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles (15-3) forced a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX played on Feb. 6, 2005, in Jacksonville and won by the Patriots 24-21.
“We want Brady. … We want Brady,” Eagles fans chanted in the fourth quarter. If the Eagles play as well as they did Sunday night, they’ll have a chance at their first Lombardi Trophy.
Foles was magnificent throwing touchdown passes of 53, 41 and 5 yards.
“From the moment he stepped on the field, he was ready to go,” center Jason Kelce.
Keenum, meanwhile, was 28-of-48 for 271 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions as the Vikings offense never did much after its opening drive when it scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Keenum to tight end Kyle Rudolph.
“It was about will and want to,” said defensive end Vinny Curry. “One thing about our defense is we don’t panic. We just played our football.”
The Eagles shredded the NFL top-rated defense. Running back LeGarrette Blount had an 11-yard TD run that gave the Eagles the lead at 14-7 early in the second quarter.
The Vikings looked like they might answer, driving from their own 15 into the Eagles red zone. But on third down and Keenum looking to pass, defensive end Derek Barnett stripped the ball out of the quarterback’s hand and Long made his second big play by recovering the fumble at the Philadelphia 24.
With 3:16 remaining in the half, the Eagles had more than enough time to add to their lead. Behind good protection, Foles bought time before finding wide receiver Alshon Jeffery breaking free behind the Vikings secondary. They would connect on a 53-yard touchdown pass that put the Eagles up 21-7. A 38-yard field goal by Jake Elliott made it 24-7 at the break.
Any chance for another “Minneapolis Miracle” seemed hopeless after Foles threw his second touchdown pass of the game. It came early in the third quarter when he found Torrey Smith for a 41-yard TD pass that made it 31-7 Eagles. Foles added a 5-yard touchdown throw to Jeffery to make it 38-7 early in the fourth quarter.