Almost exactly four years ago, on December 10th, 2017, the 10-2 Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Los Angeles to face the Rams in Week 14 in what would be a franchise defining game.
On Monday night, the 10-2 Arizona Cardinals faced the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14 and it reminded former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson of that game his team played four years ago.
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"That's one of the greatest things that I'll always remember, is how we finished that [2017-18] season," Pederson told Angelo Cataldi on Tuesday morning. "Great example, I was watching that game last night, Arizona and the Rams. Let's go back to '17. Arizona was before the game 10-2. We were 10-2 playing the Rams that same week. And I flashed back to 2017—we ended up beating the Rams, obviously to go 11-2, but we lost Carson that day. But I was sitting there thinking about that just looking at the records of the two teams last night, what Arizona is, and thinking, 'Wow, we won that game and how we put together that stretch at the end of the season and we did it with Nick Foles. And how we had to adjust the system for him, fit it for him.
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"And then go into the Super Bowl, and again, listen people were writing us off at the end of '17 because we had a backup quarterback," he continued. "I give a lot of credit to the players and the coaches in that building who believed in us getting the job done. We just continued to work. I remember Brent Celek getting up in front of the team and talking, LeGarrette Blount, and Malcolm Jenkins, and all of those guys who led that football to that postseason to make that run. That to me is what I'll always remember about 2017 and ultimately winning a championship against a great coach, a great player, a great organization. You couldn't have asked for a better scenario."
Pederson, 53, says he is looking for another opportunity to be a head coach in the National Football League. Speculation has begun that he could replace Urban Meyer as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"Any opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL again would be great," Pederson said when asked what he looks for in taking an NFL coaching job. "Obviously, you look at the roster, you want to look at the makeup there. You look at the quarterback position, as we did in 2016, with my first opportunity in Philadelphia. You just look around the league. I think you can be a little more selective with where you take your next shot. Where you can lead, where you can come in and put your mark on an organization, put your mark on culture, how you can develop young men and try to help that team and that franchise win another championship."