Standing by his locker Saturday night, Brandon Graham had a pretty simple message for oddsmakers in Las Vegas.
"Hey, do it again next week."
The Eagles were the first No. 1 seed in recorded history be an underdog against a No. 6 seed in the playoffs.
On Saturday night, they became the first No. 1-seeded underdog to pull off an upset (see Roob's observations).
It wasn't a pretty game, but the Eagles pulled off a 15-10 win over the Falcons in the divisional round in front of their home crowd at the Linc (see breakdown). Coming down to a last-minute goal-line stand, it wasn't exactly a convincing win.
So now they're going to host the NFC championship game next Sunday at 6:40 p.m. against either the Minnesota Vikings or the New Orleans Saints — and there's a good chance they're going to be underdogs again.
That's fine with them.
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"Just keep disrespecting and we're going to keep proving people wrong," receiver Alshon Jeffery said. "We just believe in one another. We don't care what anybody else says. We're just going to keep believing in one another and just keep fighting."
The Eagles used the perceived disrespect coming toward them all week as motivation. As much as some folks tried to insulate themselves, it's nearly impossible in the social media age. They knew the Vegas line, they knew how many local and national pundits were picking against them.
They embraced it.
They embraced it enough to wear underdog masks after the game (see story).
It's not hard to figure out why the Eagles were underdogs. Forget the fact the team didn't look great down the stretch. Forget the fact the defense looked wobbly and the Falcons were defending NFC champions.
The Eagles have been underdogs since Carson Wentz tore his ACL in Los Angeles on Dec. 10.
"Since that point, nobody has given us a chance," said head coach Doug Pederson, who helped feed into the motivational angle all week. "Nobody has given us a chance. And I understand, Carson's a great player, but every week, our guys are hearing the same thing. That now we are, all of a sudden, not good enough. We're 13-3 and have the best record in football. We've got home-field advantage throughout. Listen, there's not a lot — I mean, the guys are going to motivate themselves just based on what they have done and heard for the last month of football.
"Listen, it doesn't really matter what you guys talk about because that locker room in there is united and I'll go to bat for every one of those guys and I'll go to war with every one of those guys in that dressing room."
Some players in the Eagles' locker room after the win claimed they didn't really care about being underdogs or that people expected them to lose.
But others admitted it bothered them. Of course, it bothered them.
"We went out there to prove something," cornerback Ronald Darby said.
"Honestly, we really used it all year," linebacker Nigel Bradham said. "It's something we can always use. We are what we are. We're the No. 1 seed for a reason. No matter what people say, whatever their opinion is, we're the No. 1 seed for a reason. That wasn't no easy task. People are going to say what they want, but the results are there."
The result Saturday was another win. The Eagles have 14 this season — more than any other team in the NFL.
They're going to host the NFC Championship Game next Sunday against either the Saints or the Vikings.
And they're probably going to be underdogs again.
"It is what it is, man," Bradham said. "If they want to keep doing that, they can."