By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 
With a win on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game the Eagles will punch their ticket to Minnesota to make their third Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
Obviously the Eagles can only control what happens on the football field, but there are also a series of coincidences that seem to indicate that history is on the Eagles' side.
First, the Eagles' share a couple of similarities with the 2004 team that went to Super Bowl XXXIX. Both that team and this year's team went 13-3 in the regular season.
Both teams played the Atlanta Falcons and the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC playoffs to reach the Super Bowl. When the 2004 team reached the playoffs, they faced the New England Patriots, who remain in the playoffs – keeping the 2004 recurrence a possibility. Interestingly the Falcons defeated the Rams in 2004 before being ousted by the Eagles in the conference championship. The Falcons beat the Rams in the wild card round this year before the Eagles eliminated Atlanta in the divisional round last Saturday.
Furthermore, the 1980 Eagles – who are the only other Eagles' team in franchise history to reach a Super Bowl – also had to go through the Vikings in the playoffs. The difference is that both the 2004 team and 1980 team played the Vikings in the divisional round, whereas this year's team will play the Vikings in the conference championship. Although the Eagles are not facing the Vikings in the divisional round this year, they will be facing the Vikings at home, just like they did in 2004 and 1980.
The only other meeting in the playoffs between the Eagles and Vikings also ended with an Eagles' victory. That's right, the Eagles have never lost to the Vikings in the playoffs. That game took place in Minnesota and saw Andy Reid's 2009 Eagles eliminate his former offensive coordinator Brad Childress in the wild card round by a score of 26-14.
The Vikings have never scored more than 16 points against the Eagles' in a playoff game. That is good news considering this year's Eagles' defense is only allowing 13 points at home per game.
The Vikings also happen to be tied with the Green Bay Packers for the most road playoff losses in NFL history with 16 of them, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
Obviously this Vikings team is not the same as those of the past, and they are riding a high after advancing to the conference championship on one of the most exciting plays in playoff history when Stefon Diggs scored on the final play of the game with no time left on the clock.
That excitement might also be damning for the Vikings as Dan Roche of NBC Sports Philadelphia points out:
Good news, #Eagles fans!
Last 4 walkoff TD to advance in same postseason:
2015: Cardinals over GB
Next game: LOST, 49-152014: Seahawks over GB
Next game: LOST, 28-242011: Broncos over Steelers
Next game: LOST, 45-102009: Cards over GB
Next game, LOST, 45-14 pic.twitter.com/dwNis06jCd— Dan Roche (@RochesRWinners) January 17, 2018
Dating back to 2009, no team has had a walkoff victory and gone on to win their next game in the playoffs.
More bad news for the Vikings is that they are 1-3 in their history at Lincoln Financial Field and just 2-6 since the turn of the century against the Eagles. The Eagles are 5-3 in playoff games at Lincoln Financial Field and own the best home record in football over the past two seasons including the playoffs at 15-2.
In addition to football history, history from other sources may also be aiding the Eagles' Super Bowl chances.
The first comes from the eastern hemisphere. With the Chinese Zodiac entering the year of the Dog in 2018, the Eagles have some interesting connections to the calendar that aligns with age-old astrology.
The obvious connection is the link between the year of the dog, and the "dog" persona that the Eagles have taken on after being labeled as underdogs throughout the playoffs. The team has even inspired fans to buy all of the German Shepherd masks that exist, depleting inventories of the product across the internet.
While the literal interpretation is interesting, the meanings behind the year of the dog also have ties to the Eagles. There are three lucky numbers for the year of the dog – one of which is nine. Of course the Eagles have placed their playoff hopes on the arm of Nick Foles who dons the same number nine. The other connection is that there are also lucky colors, and one of those is green – the Eagles' primary color.
Where this coincidence loses some steam is that another one of the lucky colors is purple – the primary color of the Vikings.
That aside, everything seems to be coming up roses for the Eagles – which happens to be the lucky flower in the year of the dog.
The last coincidence – and perhaps the most obscure – comes from the Sixers' victory over the Toronto Raptors in a game that took place this past Monday on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
In the game Raptors' point guard Kyle Lowry was ejected after a scuffle with Sixers' point guard Ben Simmons. As Kyle Scott of Crossing Broad pointed out, this occurrence bodes well for the Eagles' chances on Sunday:
I just realized something: The last time Kyle Lowry was kicked out of a game at the Wells Fargo Center, in 2004, the Eagles won the NFC Championship game that same week. It’s a sign.
— Kyle Scott (@CrossingBroad) January 16, 2018
The previous time that Scott refers to took place on January 22, 2005, way back when Lowry played for his alma mater Villanova who split their home games between their campus and the Wells Fargo Center. Lowry got ejected in the first half against then-no. 2 Kansas, a game in which Villanova pulled off the upset.
The following day the Eagles hosted the Atlanta Falcons and defeated them to advance to Super Bowl XXXIX.
Fast forward to 2018 and once again in the same week as the Eagles NFC Championship game Kyle Lowry gets ejected on the other side of 11th street. In both cases the home team won the basketball game, and on Sunday we will find out if the Eagles can recreate history.
