The stars are aligning for the Eagles.
With Week 6 in the books, the Eagles stand alone atop the NFC. We’re watching an undefeated team enter its bye week without a single weakness on the offensive or defensive side of the football. It’s a well-coached group.
Something special is happening here.
Now, at the risk of applying more pressure than all of the Eagles collective opponents have through six weeks, here’s the truth about this team, this season and the Super Bowl window the Eagles have obviously opened with Jalen Hurts at quarterback: This is their best shot.
Windows close fast in the NFL. Ask the 2017 Eagles. When you think multiple chances at a ring will be there, that likely is false. Yes, Hurts is young and ascending. Yes, Howie Roseman can build really good rosters. Yes, Nick Sirianni looks like a really excellent leader and coach.
But the same could have been said for a team like the 2013 Seahawks under Russell Wilson, John Schneider and Pete Carroll. That team was on top of the NFC, and looked poised for a dynasty. Only one ring actually arrived, and it happened the first year dominance and home-field advantage arrived in Seattle.
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The Eagles have a few things going for them right now that will likely never be the same again at any point of the Hurts-Roseman-Sirianni era: A watered-down NFC, likely home-field advantage in the playoffs and the NFL’s biggest roster advantage helping produce the deepest roster in the sport.
Let’s start with the NFC.
The Packers, last year’s No. 1 seed, look lost. The Rams can’t block, and had to sweat to beat a Panthers team without a coach, quarterback or clue. The 49ers, while good and the most dangerous potential January opponent, are perpetually banged up and lack a dynamic punch. The Giants are still make believe. We saw what this team did to the Vikings in Week 2. The Cowboys are good, but a tier below the Eagles.
When you couple the reality of the NFC, a 6-0 start and a remaining schedule that will likely have the Eagles as favorites in every game they try to win, it’s not hard to envision a 14-3 or 15-2 finish. A prediction that would have felt like insanity three months ago now may be conservative.
The Eagles are poised to start 9-0 before being challenged by the Colts, Packers and Titans. We’re watching the start of one of the best single-season records in team history, and it’s likely to lead to the No. 1 seed and home field in the postseason. According to Football Outsiders pre-Week 6 projection, a win over Dallas would have given the Eagles an 87 percent chance at the top seed in the conference. Add in losses by Tampa Bay and San Francisco, and we may be looking at better than a 90 percent chance when the latest projections are run.
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Then there’s the roster, which may produce a sixth-consecutive NFC Player of the Week after Chauncey Gardner-Johnson’s big game vs. Dallas. We’re watching the deepest group in the NFL. Every level of the offense and defense has playmakers. There’s depth to withstand injuries. It’s an absolutely loaded group.
And much like in 2017, the offseason acquisitions are better than the biggest optimist could imagine. James Bradberry is an impact corner. Kyzir White is all over the field. A.J. Brown unlocked the offense. Jordan Davis gets better by the week. Gardner-Johnson completed the best secondary in the league. This roster is Roseman’s greatest career achievement.
But none of this is forever, or even close to a long-term thing.
The NFC won’t stay down for long. One of the powers will rise back up in 2023. A first-place schedule, extra road game and less serendipitous out-of-conference slate (the Eagles will play the improving AFC East in 2023) awaits one year from now. The roster almost assuredly won’t be as deep or good. Even the coaching staff could be weaker, with defensive coordinator Johnathan Gannon and Shane Stiechen likely to parlay this year’s success into head-coaching interviews and attention.
But perhaps nothing will change as much as the roster.
If Hurts stays healthy and continues to play at a high level, he’s going to get paid. The Eagles window with him as the biggest bargain in the sport has a clock, and it’s ticking by the game. Even if Roseman moves salary cap space around and doesn’t truly start the new money until 2024, long-term decisions will have to be made at the expense of some veterans that are important parts of this current team. This is likely the best roster the Eagles will ever put around Hurts in his entire career, just like 2012 was for the Wilson Seahawks.
The Eagles won’t fall off a cliff after 2022. This isn’t a one-year wonder. The 2023 Saints first-round pick is the kind of capital Roseman can use to either land a star or parlay into multiple picks to offset Hurts’ looming contract. The Eagles have a chance to have a special three-year run of Super Bowl contention.
But a sense of urgency should exist for now because we’re watching everything line up. Other chances will exist, but none like 2022. Call it added pressure. Call it the reality of the NFL. Call it whatever you want. I'll call it the truth.
There's a moment in time for the Eagles to seize the moment, and it's now.
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