Do you still believe that Super Bowl 57 was still the start of a huge Eagles run?
by John Kincade
I thought that the honeymoon period of Super Bowl 57 would have lasted much longer than just 4 short weeks. It’s incredible to think that just 28 days ago the game hadn’t even kicked off yet. The dreams and ambitions of the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles would play out in a drama none of us will soon forget. I remember the last time. When the Eagles lost Super Bowl 39 in Jacksonville it was an excruciating 24-21 defeat. The missed opportunities stacked upon each other. Donovan McNabb throwing all of those interceptions. The Eagles made mistakes while the Patriots didn’t. It all seems eerily familiar. The Chiefs made no mistakes while the Eagles made several. This loss was different. That 2004 team never blew a ten point halftime lead. They weren’t tied within the last minute of the game. This loss was far less predictable. That team had a great season, but they were not nearly as dominant. This win seemed inevitable, yet for a variety of circumstances it didn’t materialize.
The number one thing that I kept hearing for the 2 weeks leading up to the Super Bowl was that this was just the beginning. Fans repeated it over and over. The Eagles had arrived in 2022 ahead of schedule and that this was just the start of an incredible run of opportunity. I’m not mocking anyone that thought that. I was one of the people who perpetuated that belief. Now I have reason to believe that the foundation of that incredible run needs to be re-examined. Could it all have been built on shifting sands?
We said over and over that the Eagles had built the best roster in the NFL and that it was young and sustainable. Ask yourself, if you take away Bradbury, CJ Gardner Johnson, Javon Hargrave, potentially Darius Slay and 2 starting linebackers from the depth chart there isn’t any reason to be overly confident moving forward. There is a chance a few of those faces return, but replacing the others isn’t going to be easy. It’s completely crazy to think that the new players will provide the same results.
Well maybe the offense will be better next year? Could that be true? Absolutely. It doesn’t take a lot of dreaming to think that could happen. You could replace Miles Sanders and an offensive line starter and still see improvement as players build on past success. The offense might be able to do that. The defense most certainly won’t get that chance.
Throw in the departure of both coordinators, two other position coaches on the defensive side and the locker room publicly campaigning for the in-house candidate to be promoted to DC could prove quite problematic. You can’t just assume that everything will be just as successful moving forward.
Is this all gloom and doom? No way! Jalen Hurts and the foundation players of this offense should create nothing less than huge expectations. Rebuilding the defense is going to be an amazing undertaking.
One thing I do know, I underestimated the amount of change that was coming and what it would mean to my own confidence level. Things are going to look hugely different in 2023. I can’t wait to see Howie’s plan come into focus. He’s proved that nagging doubts can be disproven before. Good Luck Howie! We’re counting on you.
