Before we take a look at the progression of this Philadelphia Eagles team, and their journey to Super Bowl LVII, I want to examine the building blocks over the years that lead them to this point.
A Look Back
2021
Record: 9-8
Notable draft pick: WR DeVonta Smith (Alabama)
Other notes: First year with Nick Sirianni as Head Coach
2020
Record: 4-11
Notable draft pick: QB Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma)
Other notes: Doug Pederson fired January 2021 after season, Carson Wentz traded to Indianapolis in March 2021
2019
Record: 9-7 (Division Champs)
Notable draft pick: RB Miles Sanders (Penn State)
Fast forward to this almost-wrapped 2022 NFL season and there were no lack of headlines coming out of Philadelphia. General Manager Howie Roseman was, quite frankly, masterful (and busy!) in his acquisitions-through both trades and free agency. Most notable below:
-WR AJ Brown
-LB Haason Reddick
-CB Chauncey Gardener-Johnson
-DT Ndamakung Suh
-CB James Bradberry
-LB Kyzir White
The Eagles front office took full advantage of Hurts still on his rookie contract; thus, going all in just made sense. Building this team around him surely catapulted them to the coveted final destination. The engineering of this team was exactly why Roseman got my Executive of the Year nod in a prior piece!
Flying through the regular season was not as most predicted. Fellow NFC East records:
Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
New York Giants: 9-7-1
Washington Commanders: 8-8-1
Both Dallas and New York also had postseason appearances while Washington wasn’t out of the playoff race by much. This was a changeup from previous seasons where the NFC East was often referred to as the ‘NFC Least’ given the poor play throughout the bulk of the division.
Jalen Hurts did suffer a shoulder injury Week 15 when playing in Chicago-giving the City of Brotherly Love some heart palpitations. Hurts was sidelined for two weeks and then limited in the regular season finale against division rival New York Giants.
The Eagles had no trouble ascending through the playoffs as they dominated in both the Divisional Round and also the NFC Championshp Game.
2023 Postseason wins
Divisional Round:
Beat New York Giants 38-7: Beating a division rival three times in a season is not always an easy task at hand. Yet, we watched the Eagles chalk up their third win against the Giants on Divisional weekend. Not only did they come away victorious, but they made it look easy.
NFC Championship:
Beat 49ers 31-7: Without making excuses for San Francisco, they were completely depleted at the most important position in football. There is still a good chance this game would end in a rout, though, as Brock Purdy was finally made to look like a rookie by a salacious Eagles D.
How will Philadelphia pair up against Kansas City?
Final Regular Season Rankings: Philadelphia
Total offense: 3rd
Total defense: 2nd
Final Regular Season Rankings: Kansas City
Total offense: 1st
Total defense: 11th
Eerily Similar
KC and Philly both:
-Scored 546 points
-Went 16-3
-Were number 1 seeds in their respective conferences
-Have 6 Pro-Bowlers including a Kelce brother and their QB
I recently saw those jarringly similar stats and it blew my mind! This should suggest a clash for the ages, but as we know in the National Football League: anything can happen. What would a piece during SB week be without a prediction for the big game? I think the Eagles are a more complete team by a smidge who come away with the Lombardi Trophy. I am going to go 31-27 final!
If you want to bet on the Eagles to win the Super Bowl, check on the odds here