It’s time to say it, and say it without being afraid of looking silly months from now: The Eagles are loaded, and poised to be a Super Bowl contender.
Yes, the same Eagles that went into last season with an over/under of 6.5 wins. The same team that started 2-5. That was then, this is now. And in the NFL, a lot can change in the span of a year.
Here’s why the 2022 Eagles are absolutely poised to be a true Super Bowl contender.
The roster is loaded, and more talented than the 2017 group
At first, you might want to balk at that statement. But go through the rosters, from top-to-bottom. The current group is more talented, especially at wide receiver, cornerback, and linebacker.
Adding Chauncy Gardner-Johnson was the cherry on top of an outstanding offseason by Howie Roseman. The Eagles addressed virtually every weakness from last year’s team, while still keeping flexibility for future moves. The Eagles added A.J. Brown, Haason Reddick, James Bradberry, Gardner-Johnson, Kyzir White, Jordan Davis, Cam Jurgens and Nakobe Dean in the span of six months, and drastically upgraded the roster. Perhaps the final piece of the puzzle will come in the form of a deal for a running back around the trade deadline, just like in 2017.
The NFC is about to have a down year, opening up a chance at home field advantage
This is crucial.
Sometimes windows and moments of opportunity form in pro sports seemingly out of nowhere, and good organizations leap through them. The 2007-2011 Phillies certainly did that, taking advantage of a down era in the National League and winning as the 90s Braves dynasty fell off and before the current Dodgers dynasty took shape.
The NFC is clearly the weaker conference in the current NFL landscape, but I’m not sure how much has been made of how last year’s top contenders look primed for a step back in 2022.
Green Bay has won 13 games three seasons in a row, becoming the first team in NFL history to pull off that feat. Is this team really going to pull that off four times in a row? I doubt it, especially with such a green wide receiver room after Devante Adams’ departure. This feels more like an 11-win team than any sort of regular season juggernaut.
Los Angeles has to fight a Super Bowl hangover, lost Von Miller and will play one of the league’s most difficult schedules. Plus, Matthew Stafford is dealing with an elbow injury that seems like it has lingered for a while.
San Francisco has quarterback drama, doesn’t seem totally sold on what it has in Trey Lance, and has not put together a quality offense line throughout the preseason. Kyle Shanahan is a very good coach, but this feels like a work in progress more than a home-field advantage kind of squad.
Tampa Bay? Please. The interior offensive line has been gutted compared to the last two years. The team is old. The head coach is gone, pushed upstairs and replaced by the defensive-minded Todd Bowles. Judging by his run with the Jets, don’t expect much aggressiveness or push-the-envelope fourth-down decision making from this team. Plus, there’s the very strange case of the 45-year-old GOAT that retired, came back, and then disappeared from training camp for 10 days. Tom Brady’s super power has been to want it more than anyone else for more than two decades. I don’t get the sense Brady is all-in any longer, and that could sink the end of his career.
Dallas had the anti-Eagles offseason, losing talented player after talented player. Tyron Smith is the best player to be seriously injured this summer, severely impacting the offensive line in front of a not-quite-as-mobile-as-he-used-to-be Dak Prescott. Sean Payton is looming, and that won’t make for a calm Mike McCarthy. Turnover luck won’t be the same. The Cowboys could be a tire fire.
Look at the schedule
According to Warren Sharp’s strength of schedule based on forecasted 2022 win totals, the Eagles have the second easiest schedule in the NFL. Much like in 2017, it’s set up to get off to a big start in September, October and early November. By my count, the Eagles are only slated to be underdogs three times (at Arizona, at Indianapolis, at Dallas) all year. Games are played on the field, but that’s a pretty good indication of the schedule. And go through the opposing quarterbacks on the schedule this year. How many games will the Eagles be at a disadvantage at the sport’s most important position? I count four (Arizona, Dallas 2x, and Green Bay), with Jalen Hurts better or close to even with every other signal caller the Eagles will face. It’s huge.
A sense of urgency is (smartly) hovering over offseason moves
Roseman has (likely) built the best, strongest and deepest roster he ever will around Jalen Hurts. If that seems hyperbolic or a premature statement, consider the landscape of the salary cap. Hurts counts for just over $1M this season on the cap, making him close to $40M less than the highest paid at the position. If the Eagles win big, Hurts is set to cash in with a contract extension after this season. Even if the Eagles have uncertainty at the position in 2023, future quarterback salaries will hover over cap decisions. Much like with the early Russell Wilson Seahawks, the stars have aligned now for the best team Hurts will have around him here.
Vegas (usually) knows, and the bar has been set high for this group
We like to think of underdogs coming out of nowhere to win it all, but that’s actually pretty rare in the NFL. Currently, the Eagles sit at 20-1 to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel. Over the last 20 years, 17 of the 20 eventual Super Bowl champions sat at 20-1-or-less when the season opened (with the 2017 Eagles, 2011 and 2007 Giants as the exceptions). Some level of preseason Super Bowl hype is almost always justified. The Eagles are one of about 12 teams (along with the Bills, Bucs, Chiefs, Rams, Packers, Chargers, 49ers, Broncos, Ravens, Bengals, and Colts) that can win it all this year.
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