Destination Darlings: Eagles Stamped as Super Bowl Favorites
A year ago the Philadelphia Eagles were coming off a 9-8 season while the Dallas Cowboys were being bathed in their usual offseason hype.
But now the hunters are no doubt the hunted.
After a 14-3 season and exhilarating three-point loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, the Eagles will sneak up on exactly no one this season. Even before their first official OTA repetitions, Philly is being fitted for one of the NFL's biggest bullseyes.
Thanks to star quarterback Jalen Hurts, stables of talent on both sides of the ball, and an eye-popping draft that netted three Georgia defenders, the Eagles are the sexy pick to return - if not win - the Super Bowl this season.
NFL.com, for example, just named the Eagles as the league's most complete team. The Chiefs come in at No. 2.
Writes NFL.com:
They came up just short in Super Bowl LVII, but there’s no reason to think the state of the Eagles’ roster isn’t as good as -- if not better than -- it was a year ago.
And over at ESPN, the network puts the Eagles at No. 3 in its power index. But it also, thanks to playing in an inferior NFC, gives them the best overall shot at playing in Super Bowl LVIII next February in Las Vegas at 14 percent.
Says ESPN:
The median AFC playoff team in our simulations is roughly 2.4 points per game better than the median NFC playoff team. That's a big reason Philadelphia leads Kansas City in Super Bowl chances, 14% to 13%. The Chiefs also face quite the gauntlet of a schedule in the regular season -- second toughest in the league, according to FPI -- which dampens their projections despite being the best team in football by almost a full point. The 49ers, Bills and Bengals round out the top five, while the Dallas Cowboys are the only other team above 5% (7%).
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