The Philadelphia Eagles are once again having a tremendous season at a little over the halfway mark of the 2023 campaign. They own the best record in the NFL and somehow have yet to put together a complete game offensively and defensively.
With the team owning the best record in the NFL, there’s plenty to be thankful for at this point. Here are my five reasons to be thankful for the Eagles:
Best GM in sports
It takes a lot of guts and an extremely sharp person to put a roster this good together. Howie Roseman has been on a mission since the firing of Doug Pederson. It seems that he and the coaching staff are finally on the same page. After moving on from Carson Wentz and Doug Pederson, the Eagles have added key players like DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown, James Bradberry, D’Andre Swift, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Haason Reddick, and plenty more.
They even traded for Kevin Byard after losing C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the offseason. You have to be emotionally intelligent to put this kind of roster together and keep this team in a place where they will always be contenders. Let’s not forget that he also signed Jalen Hurts to a record contract while keeping it as a team-friendly deal. Howie Roseman is someone you should be thankful for.
Most overlooked coach of all time?
Since joining the Philadelphia Eagles as the head coach, Nick Sirianni has been through it all. From being laughed out of his first press conference to leading the franchise to its fourth Super Bowl appearance. Sirianni is an emotionally intelligent coach who doesn’t let anyone get the better of him.
Has he been out-coached before? Absolutely but the man has an incredible amount of self-awareness that allows him to learn from his mistakes. He’s 34-14 as the Eagles head coach which includes two wins and two losses in the playoffs. He’s also been ridiculously overlooked for the Coach of the Year award in every season that he’s coached in.
Jalen Hurts is the franchise
Jalen Hurts was possibly the most questioned Eagles draft pick of all time. The team selected Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft after signing Carson Wentz to the then-largest contract in franchise history. They haven’t looked back since. His leadership and skill set elevated the franchise back into contender status within the league.
While many would like to question his ability because he isn’t the flashiest or the most popular QB, Hurts is one of the top 2 QBs in the NFL regardless of what you think. He’s grown as a pocket passer this season with the limitations of his knee injury. Hurts is 26-2 in the last 28 games without having an elite defense on his side and is just the fourth QB since 1950 to win 26+ games over the span of 28 games joining Tom Brady, Jim McMahon, and Joe Montana.
Two Number Ones
The Eagles have two top 10 wide receivers on the roster and they have been nothing but spectacular since playing together. DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown are a rarity in the NFL. Not too many teams have two wide receivers that can be number one on any other team in the league.
Smith has 632 receiving yards and four touchdowns while A.J. Brown has 1,013 receding yards and 6 touchdowns this season. Both are expected to finish the season with more than 1,000 receiving yards which would mean that the Eagles had back-to-back seasons with two 1,000-yard receivers. You have to enjoy them while they’re both here, things can change in an instant in this league.
The Weapon of Mass Destruction
Defensively there is plenty to be thankful for. From the defensive tackles to the safeties to even Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai. But I feel like there’s one player that stands out from the rest and that’s the infamous game wrecker known as Haason Reddick. Reddick is well on his way to another 10+ sack season and is earning himself a big extension.
He’s done it all for the Eagles from this season to last. After missing three games this season Reddick has 8.5 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, 15 QB hits, and 40+ pressures. There’s no denying that the defensive line has been benefiting from their edge rushers this season. Reddick is undeniably a player that fans should be thankful for.
AP Photo/Matt Slocum
