Philly Philly vs. Philly Special: Doug Pederson explains

Friday, September 7, 2018

Doug Pederson describes difference in trick plays during a press conference on September 7, 2018.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philly Philly? Philly Special? Both plays are amazing, but there is a difference.

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson tried to erase any confusion of the much-talked about trick plays.

"They're two different plays, with the same result," Pederson explained to reporters during a Friday morning press conference discussing the Birds' season opener win against the Atlanta Falcons the night before.

His explanation continued: "'Philly Special' was the play we used in the Super Bowl for the 4th and goal. 'Philly Philly' was just basically the play we used last night, but sort of derived from what Nick had mentioned to me during the Super Bowl so we just used it for the play last night."

Let's take a breath and regroup.

During the Super Bowl, quarterback Nick Foles ran over to the sidelines and asked head coach Doug Pederson, "Philly Philly?" Pederson replied, "Yeah, let's do it."

The next play - one of the most memorable of Super Bowl LII -saw Foles catch a pass for a 1-yard touchdown from tight end Trey Burton in the final seconds of the first half of the big game.

The moment of Pederson and Foles speaking on the sidelines was recently immortalized into a statue outside Lincoln Financial Field, complete with the words 'Philly Philly.'

'Philly Special' statue unveiled at the Linc on September 5, 2018.

However, the Super Bowl play was actually called the 'Philly Special.'

During Thursday night's season opener, Foles pulled off another trick play. This time, Nelson Agholor threw to Foles for a 15-yard gain.

This play was called 'Philly Philly.'

"Quite honestly, it was the same personnel group. We had two tight ends - two receivers and a running back on the field for both plays. Just different formations with the same result," Pederson said.

The 'Philly Philly' was very reminiscent of a play the New England Patriots tried to pull off in Super Bowl LII, but quarterback Tom Brady failed to catch the ball.

Pederson said they began working on the 'Philly Philly' play during OTAs.

"That play last night actually came off of a similar play obviously the Patriots had run, but we actually put it in in OTAs. We ran it the last day of OTAs. That was where the play actually originated back then and we carried it over through camp and used it," Pederson said.

So to recap, with the 'Philly Special,' the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 to win Super Bowl LII. And with the 'Philly Philly,' the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Atlanta Falcons to win Week 1 of the 2018 season 18-12.

One question remains: What will the next trick play be called?