Winter Storm Redux: Looking back at the Snow Bowl

“And if the snow buries my... my neighborhood...”

I’m writing this as snow accumulates by the second on the ground outside my apartment and the wind bangs against my windows. It feels too early in the day to be this dark and dreary out, but that’s a December snow storm in Philadelphia for you.

Unless you’re a grade school student itching for a day off school to go play tackle football in the snow with your friends, snow is a mess and useless. People become the worst drivers alive. When it’s disgusting and dirty and grey three days later, it’s a blight on the city. Give me 65-degree weather every single day. Hoodies and shorts, baby, the outfit of a true Philadelphian.

There was one time snow was actually the coolest thing ever: Week 14 of the 2013 NFL season.

The Eagles, once reeling at 3-5 during Chip Kelly’s first season in Philadelphia, had found their groove with backup quarterback Nick Foles (as they always do). The squad battled back to 7-5 and were set to face the Lions at home. A huge snow storm blew over the city that day, growing worse as time crept towards kickoff. The stadium crew didn’t even have the proper time to counterattack the storm.

The first half of the game was essentially incomprehensible and unwatchable, as the Lions took a 14-point lead.

What could’ve turned into an infamous afternoon in Eagles lore, a lite version of the Fog Bowl, became one of the most memorable moments in regular season history for this franchise. The Birds exploded for 34 second half points in a win that stands as the peak of the Kelly era.

The Eagles totaled 299 yards on the ground. LeSean McCoy accounted for 217 of them with two tuddies too, creating one of the best photos in Eagles history, which graces the top of this article. Chris Polk added in 50 yards of his own too including a 38-yard touchdown run. What a freaking blast of an afternoon.

The game was capped off with an equally awesome picture featuring the great Brent Celek:

It’s great reminiscing about fun football, especially in an Eagles season that has been severely lacking in that regard.

Where were you that day? Even as a season-ticket holder, I actually missed the game, as I had a paper for college that was way overdue that I needed to finish, so I obviously just watched the game at home thinking I could get work done and ultimately did zero writing and went insane watching it. Classic!

I miss enjoying football.