[Editor's Note: Promoted from the FanPosts]

Seriously, could it?

The Philadelphia Eagles are one game away from playing in their first Super Bowl since 2005. But how perfect is it that they will face the Minnesota Vikings to do it?

Let's go on a journey to the beginning of the Doug Pederson & Carson Wentz era. Not in April 2016 - but in September. Peter King wrote an article outlining the oral histories that Howie Roseman and Rick Spielman offered about the decision to deal Sam Bradford for a 2017 1st and a 2018 4th. King titled the article "Inside the Trade that Could Reshape the 2016 Season. That's a good headline. But it wasn't accurate.

Swap the 2016 for 2017. Because that's what really happened.

The Saints would have been a good matchup for the Eagles, schematically. But the Eagles got the tougher opponent.

Pat Shurmur and Doug Pederson go back to the early Andy years together. Doug came over on a three-year deal, and Shurmur was the offensive line/tight ends coach.

Carson Wentz was drafted, and Sam Bradford wanted a trade. He got one. Howie Roseman owned Rick Spielman on that deal. And won the coin flip to pick Derek Barnett at 14.

We knew from the second Wentz finished the opening game against Cleveland that he could be really friggin' good. He played well. Poised, comfortable, showed some mobility and toughness. It would only foreshadow an MVP-caliber season that was so sadly cut short.

A 5-0 Minnesota team walked into Philadelphia last year and walked out with a blemish on their record, thanks to a dominating defensive performance and all three phases stepping up to make plays.

Ironically, Sam Bradford looked like a legitimate dime-thrower in week one this year against New Orleans. While his 2016 season wasn't MVP-caliber, it was still beyond efficient and effective. And his season was then cut short.

Both teams are creative, paper-cut offenses that will bleed you to death slowly. Both teams have back-up quarterbacks at the helm after their starters went down for the season.

Both teams have intense defenses. Mike Zimmer and Jim Schwartz are two of the best defensive minds in the game right now. Schwartz - as James Seltzer said - owned Steve Sarkisian's soul last Saturday. And that Vikings defense - as Doug put it - is smothering.

These teams are much more similar than they are different. But there are three things that make me feel confident that the Eagles can get a win on Sunday night:

1. Doug Pederson as a playcaller. Can you name one person who you would trust more than Doug Pederson to come up with a gameplan to attack a Mike Zimmer defense with a Super Bowl berth on the line? With this much talent at his disposal between Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Zach Ertz, LeGarrette Blount, and Jay Ajayi? Not to mention Trey Burton, Torrey Smith and Mack Hollins? Those three guys would start on another squad - Hollins included. He can ball. Doug got Nick Foles comfortable, in a rhythm, and feeling the groove on Saturday night. As a former quarterback myself, I can attest: that's one of the best feelings in the world. When you're under center and you know your offensive line is holding up, you have great weapons at your disposal, and all you have to do is execute? Man. Not many better places to be than that one. Foles did just that last week: he executed very well. And Doug called a brilliant, masterstroke of a game. If Doug calls plays like he has been (keep those RPO's flowin', baby) and Foles executes like this, the Eagles can put themselves in a great position to win on Sunday night.

2. The Eagles are at home. The Linc was a straight-up showcase of bedlam from the opening kick to when the clock hit :00. More than that, they were cheering on the Birds at the small moments - picking up a first down, or making a solid hit. That home defense is absolutely for real. The Falcons got their one touchdown on a short field that came from what was really more a fluke mistake than a legitimate mental error by the Eagles special teams. This game could have been won by at least two scores had the Eagles not been so rusty early on. And if this defense can halt Davonte Freeman and Tevin Coleman? They can certainly halt Jerrick McKinnon and Latavius Murray. They can keep Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu out of the endzone, they can do the same to Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs. Easy? No. Doable? Darn right it is. This is a dangerous football team going up against a pretty good football team. It comes down to Jims versus Joes, not X's and O's in the playoffs. I'll take dangerous over pretty good any day.

3. Pressure. The Eagles don't have nearly the pressure on them that the Vikings do. Minnesota has the possibility of being the first Super Bowl team to ever play in their home stadium. I'll admit, that's cool. Imagine if the Eagles achieved a Super Bowl berth and the Lombardi Trophy were up for grabs at The Linc? How insane would that be? Minnesota is also coming off of a truly miraculous victory (also insane) this past week. The Eagles? It wasn't miraculous, but it was a tough, gritty, grind-it-out ballgame that they dominated from about the mid-second quarter onward. Once that rust was shaken off, there was no looking back. Did people expect Minnesota to be in this position? Maybe. Did people expect Philadelphia to be in this position? No. Not at the start of the season, not after Carson Wentz was injured, and certainly not once Foles was playing like he did at the end of the regular season. And not even right now, as they open as a home underdog again. People have doubted this team all year, and they continually have shown up and found a way to win. They are without five critical starters in Sproles, Peters, Maragos, Hicks, and most importantly Carson Wentz. And they still battle, claw, and go to war together in search of a victory. As a team that's 14-2 at home under Doug (not counting Week 17's loss to Dallas), you can't say this team doesn't have a decent, realistic shot. They're at home. They're being doubted. They play with abandon and they have absolutely nothing to lose. Minnesota is going into a hostile environment, favored, and has history to lose. The Eagles have history to gain.

The matchups here are just so poetic. Pederson versus Zimmer and his defensive coordinator George Edwards. Schwartz versus Shurmur. Foles versus Keenum, and the wild twists and turns along the way to bring them to this point where they both are starting an NFC Championship Game. This Eagles offensive line versus the Vikings defensive line. Alshon versus Xavier Rhodes. Zach Ertz versus Harrison Smith. Darby versus Diggs. The Eagles D-line versus the Vikings O-line. There is no doubt that this will be a grinding, grueling, hard-hitting slugfest on Sunday night. The toughest game the Eagles have played this season - bar none. It will be a true battle in the trenches, a war of attrition, and - as we've seen from both teams in the Divisional Week - a fight to the end.

The way that Wentz got injured was symbolic in how this football team has battled this year: they will not quit. They will find a way to win the game. Next man up. Carson Wentz tore his ACL diving for a touchdown to put his team ahead. And still stayed in the game after it was called back. And still threw the go-ahead touchdown and broke the single-season franchise record for touchdown passes. His injury is symbolic, because this team literally gives everything and more to come out on top.

It will take everything and more to come out victorious on Sunday night - and they are beyond capable of doing it.

Fly Eagles Fly.