On Feb. 4, 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots at U.S. Bank Stadium in Super Bowl LII.

About five years and one week later, the Eagles will return to the Super Bowl, having won the NFC Championship Game 31-7 over the 49ers on Sunday.

Vikings fans might resent the Eagles for the walloping they delivered in the 2017 NFC title game, or Eagles fans for their felonious behaviors before and during that game.

Look past those emotions, and every Vikings fan should admire what the Eagles have accomplished.

The NFL allows intelligent teams to reinvent themselves on the fly. The Eagles might be the smartest team in football.

Remember, when the Wilfs made their first coaching hire, they chose Brad Childress, in part because he had coached in the Eagles organization, which was at the time considered one of the NFL's model franchises.

The Eagles are even more impressive now. They are proof that in the NFL, rebuilding is measured by a stopwatch, not a sundial.

Imagine if, two years ago, someone had told you that Nick Sirianni was going to take the Eagles to the Super Bowl with Jalen Hurts as his quarterback. You might have asked them to get checked out in the blue tent.

The Eagles won their Super Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium with second-year head coach Doug Pederson; backup quarterback Nick Foles having taken over for the injured Carson Wentz; and with skill-position players named Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, LeGarrette Blount and Zach Ertz.

This season's NFC champ features four starters who are holdovers from the team that won at U.S. Bank Stadium — offensive linemen Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce and defensive linemen Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox.

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