At around this time a year ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were well on their way to being cooked like a Griswold family turkey — dry and tough to swallow.
After papering over issues early in the season, Nick Sirianni’s club collapsed, losing five of its final six regular-season games and backing into an embarrassing blowout defeat in the playoffs. The entire outfit was a mess fit for a holiday family squabble.
The defense couldn’t stop a runny nose with a Costco-size swath of tissues. In the final six weeks of 2023, Philly allowed 30.3 points and 383.8 total yards per game, finishing 31st in passing yards allowed (252.7) for the entire campaign. Jalen Hurts was a turnover machine, posting 20 giveaways on the season, fourth-most in the NFL, and Philly’s turnover margin in Weeks 13-18 (minus-8) was the worst in the league in that span. The Eagles finished the season with a plus-5 point differential, the fifth-worst by an 11-win club in NFL history. Nothing looked good. It seemed like Sirianni couldn’t make a correct decision to save his goose, from questionable coordinator moves to in-game management.
A year later, the Eagles are almost unrecognizable, a majestic, soaring squad sitting near the top of the NFC standings. Buoyed by bye-week kumbaya sessions between Hurts and Sirianni, Philly is on an eight-game winning streak, looking every bit like the bulldozing force that powered its way to Super Bowl LVII two seasons ago.
The differences from 2023 are glaring. Hurts isn’t putting the ball in harm’s way; he’s turned it over just twice since Week 6. Saquon Barkley‘s explosive ability is a game-changer next to Hurts. And the defense is a menace, finding production from a trove of young players.
Sirianni survived last year’s debacle and made good coordinator hires. General manager Howie Roseman hit enough home runs with additions like Barkley, rookie DBs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean and veteran offensive lineman Mekhi Becton that his swing-and-miss (Bryce Huff) has become a footnote.
It seems like Sunday’s win over Baltimore has flown under the radar as the latest triumph in an impressive eight-week run. But let’s not lose sight of what the Eagles accomplished, overcoming a deficit in hostile territory to squash one of the best offenses in the NFL, which happens to be led by an MVP candidate. Philly also ran away with it at the end; this was a double-digit road win against a supposed AFC power masquerading as a one-possession game, thanks to a garbage-time Lamar Jackson score.
Pairing an offense that can jab, jab, jab and then hammer home an uppercut with a defense that smothers opponents, Philly enters the holiday season as one of the few true title contenders. Keeping last year’s Eagles late-season collapse in mind, post-Thanksgiving is a good time to consider some other narratives currently running through the NFC, separating fact from fiction:
