The Monday morning after a Super Bowl is always a strange one. There’s no more football until September which means all eyes now turn toward what promises to be another rollercoaster offseason. For the Philadelphia Eagles, it’s a crucial one as far as sustaining their own Super Bowl window goes. Here are 3 things the team can take into the offseason
It should’ve been the Eagles…
Realistically, the Eagles were good enough to be in the Super Bowl this year. They were good enough to pin Brock Purdy under the primetime lights and they had already beaten the Kansas City Chiefs. While past success is not indicative of future results, it’s hard to imagine an ‘average’ Jalen Hurts game somehow not being enough to beat the Chiefs, even in the state this team was in going into the postseason.
After watching Deebo Samuel show his limitations as a receiver and George Kittle put up a dud, it’s really tough to look at last night’s game and accept that the Eagles somehow didn’t even get past the first round of the playoffs. However, it’s also reassuring that this team is good enough on paper to run it back next year.
Knocking on the door
That last sentence matters. The Kansas City Chiefs are a dynasty. They’ve won back to back Super Bowls and have appeared in 6 straight AFC Championship games, winning 4 of them.
The Philadelphia Eagles aren’t that far away.
Their miraculous Super Bowl 52 victory was followed by an implosion that was swiftly rectified by Howie Roseman. The Eagles returned to the playoffs in 2021, and then of course made the Super Bowl once again in 2022. Prior to their collapse in 2023, they were a 10-win team who beat the very best that the AFC had to offer.
As stress-inducing as the regular season was, the Eagles are in a good spot. They’ve got a star-studded offense, a great quarterback, and plenty of promising young talents on the other side of the ball. Being great is hard, sustaining it is another task altogether.
If they can iron out the kinks and get things straightened out next year, there is no reason this team shouldn’t be a regular contender for the NFC Championship and beyond.
The Eagles aren’t as far away as you might think.
Culture matters
When Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman made the decision to let Sean Desai/Matt Patricia, and Brian Johnson walk this offseason, they doubled down on Nick Sirianni with what can only be presumed to be a shorter leash. This confused some fans who believed that Sirianni was just as responsible for his teams’ downfall as his coordinators were.
So, why was he kept on?
Culture.
The players love Nick Sirianni and have gone to bat for him at almost every hurdle. That counts for a lot when battling adversity, and there is no better example than the Chiefs last night.
Down 10 going into halftime and unable to generate anything offense, the chances of a Super Bowl repeat looked bleak. Travis Kelce was visibly infuriated, and Andy Reid had a lot of work to do.
However, Big Red is another coach who players gravitate towards. Reid spoke about the character in the locker room after his teams’ heroic Super Bowl 58 comeback and it’s easy to draw comparisons to Nick Sirianni in that area.
AJ Brown recently discussed an example of Nick Sirianni taking the blame for the loss against Seattle:
“That was on us, we messed that up, we improvised and we went on our own and Nick came out and said I wanted to try and get a flag or something crazy like that.”
LT Jordan Mailata recalled when he heard Nick take the fall for that as well.
“When he said that, that was wild. I know damn well, you lying MF, I know you didn’t do that just to try and get a flag. he’s taking one for the team”
AJ Brown then expressed what he thinks of his coach.
“He made himself look like a fool, for us. I have nothing but respect for him, not all coaches do that, we ride with Nick”
If the players are bought into what Nick Sirianni is selling, then the rest doesn’t matter. This roster is too good and if the overwhelming belief is that Sirianni is the guy they’ll to to bat for, then there’s no reason to rock the boat.
AP Photo/Ashley Landis
