Eagles Super Bowl Sequel? 5 Things That Could Derail Philly
PHILADELPHIA - The path is clear for the Philadelphia Eagles as the best team in the weaker conference of the NFL. A return trip to the Super Bowl is not only realistic but one that's expected by a large portion of what has quickly become an entitled fan base.
The good news is that Nick Sirianni avoids the big-game talk with the kind of social distancing that we all became familiar with during the COVID-19 era. Sirianni is the Jalen Hurts of NFL coaches, sometimes frustratingly focused on the micro of getting one percent better each and every day.
Handle the little stuff and the big stuff will take care of itself from the Eagles coach’s perspective.
On paper, Philadelphia should be back playing come February, this time in Las Vegas, but anyone who has been around the NFL for more than 10 minutes understands adversity is hidden behind every blind corner.
With Week 1 at New England, a week away here are the biggest concerns for the 2023 Eagles:
Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts need to make sure the Eagles don't skip steps.
© Patrick Breen, Arizona Republic
New Coordinators - The Jonathan Gannon hate has reached epic proportions in Philadelphia as the new Arizona Cardinals head coach has become the designated scapegoat for the SB loss against Kansas City, while Shane Steichen is more well-liked but has become an afterthought with the assumption Brian Johnson will step in nary a hiccup.
Sean Desai is unfairly expected to be better than Gannon, which is an almost insurmountable hurdle considering the loss of five starters while trying to replicate 70 sacks and a No. 2 defensive ranking.
Sirianni understands this phenomenon in that when things go well, it’s the players and when they don’t it’s the coaches. In truth, it’s always the players, and the Eagles will out-talent the vast majority of teams but assuming the Xerox on the coaching staff will be as sharp as the original tends to be specious with any staff that suffers attrition.
The schedule - In the Eagles' two recent runs to the Super Bowl, the key was making sure the path ran through Lincoln Financial Field and that means a small margin of error en route to get the No. 1 seed. A tougher schedule (on paper) could be the difference between that and say a two- or three-seed, decreasing the odds dramatically for a return trip to the big game.
Uncertainty - Most (good) coaches are never going to downplay anyone on their team from No. 1 – both literally and figuratively Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia – down to the 53rd man on the roster and the extra 16 on the practice squad. When it comes to personnel if you want truth, search for the uncertainty.
With the Eagles that starts with running back, off-ball linebacker, and safety.
The Eagles are crossing their fingers that Kenny Gainwell, Nakobe Dean, and Reed Blankenship can serviceably replace Miles Sanders, T.J. Edwards, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson while hoping vets like D’Andre Swift and/or Rashaad Penny, Zach Cunningham and Terrell Edmunds and/or Justin Evans can handle specific roles.
Hope, as GM Howie Roseman once explained, is not a strategy.
Right injury/wrong spot - This, of course, is the same for any good team in the NFL. The most obvious is Hurts but as deep as the Eagles are regarded, there are certain positions where one critical injury could change the complexion of how the team has to play (think wide receiver and offensive line) and two could gut things relatively quickly.
The Eagles were very healthy last season and that kind of thing tends to regress to the mean.
Human Nature - The NFL really is a grind and if the players even reek of some of the entitlement the fan base is currently engaging in, another NFC championship is out the window.
The good news is that Sirianni and Hurts understand that and will be steering this ship. The Eagles' other core leaders are also very familiar and in tune with what needs to be done.
You can't fast-forward from Foxborough to Las Vegas and any missed step along the way could derail everything in a league defined by parity.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
