Wentz going to Super Bowl while Thielen can only watch

Wentz was in the mass of bodies on the field and in the celebratory locker room afterward—using a cane for support—after the Eagles defeated the Minnesota Vikings 38-7 Sunday night, Jan. 21, in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles are headed to Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 4.

Wearing a gray T-shirt and backward cap, both reading "Conference Champions," Wentz talked with teammates in the Eagles' locker room but declined to comment on the game.

It will be bittersweet for Wentz, the former North Dakota State University star who played high school football at Bismarck Century. He led the Eagles to a 10-2 record as the starting quarterback before a knee injury Dec. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams ended his season.

His role changed from possible Most Valuable Player of the National Football League to cheerleader and assistant coach for his replacement Nick Foles.

It must have helped. Foles was named the player of the game for the Eagles, completing 26 of 33 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns. He didn't throw an interception.

Foles provided fireworks like Wentz did before his injury. With the Eagles leading 14-7 in the second quarter, Foles slipped out of a sack and hit Alshon Jeffrey for a 53-yard touchdown to give Philadelphia a commanding lead with 1:09 left before halftime.

Wentz spent the game on the sideline, wearing his No. 11 jersey. He was on the field before the game for the coin flip.

Wentz might not have played since his injury, but Eagles fan recognized his role in getting Philadelphia to the Super Bowl. When a video of Wentz played on the large boards at either end of the stadium, the sellout crowd of 69,596 roared.

Wentz is sure to be a big story at the Super Bowl, even if he's not playing. He grew up a Vikings fan in Bismarck and played college football four hours away in Fargo.

There will be no such happy homecoming for Minnesota receiver Adam Thielen. The Detroit Lakes, Minn., high school product and Minnesota State-Mankato graduate surely would've been a huge focus of national media had the Vikings qualified for the Super Bowl.

Instead, he was left to answer questions about what went wrong in a quiet Vikings locker room after the game.

Quarterback Case Keenum threw two interceptions and lost a fumble on a strip sack while the highly ranked Vikings defense allowed 456 yards.

"That's the most frustrating part is we know the little things we did to win games were the things that hurt us today," Thielen said. "Ultimately those little things caused us to lose. But credit to that team. That's a heckuva team. They have a lot of great players, great coaches. They beat us fair and square."

Thielen was limited in practice before the game because of a back injury suffered in a divisional playoff victory over New Orleans. NFL.com reported Thielen suffered a couple of slight fractures against the Saints and was moving gingerly on Friday. He played the entire game against Philadelphia, making three catches for 28 yards. His longest reception came on Minnesota's first drive when he caught a 12-yard pass from Keenum.

It was a breakout season for Thielen. He led the Vikings with 91 catches for 1,276 yards in the regular season and was named to his first Pro Bowl.

Even though he was injured in the second quarter against the Saints, Thielen made a huge catch in the fourth quarter that led to Minnesota kicking a go-ahead field goal.

"Ultimately, the goal is to get to the Super Bowl and win it. We didn't check that last box," Thielen said. "We checked a lot of boxes we can build on. We can go into the offseason and put together another team that fights and scratches and does the little things to win."