7 Teams Who Could Prevent The Eagles From Winning Back To Back
Once you get 1, you only become hungrier for more. The Eagles have had 1 parade, and now it becomes about getting a 2nd one, and hopefully more.
Can the Eagles repeat as champions? Only 9 teams have ever done it in nearly 60 years of Super Bowls. Obviously we just saw the Chiefs win back-to-back before being smacked down by the Eagles in the 3rd. But can the Eagles become the 10th team? Which teams are the biggest threats to the Eagles getting a 2nd straight championship?
These 7 Teams Will Certainly Try To Stop The Eagles:
Kansas City Chiefs
The Eagles just crushed the Chiefs, so they feel like less of a threat. But they are still the only team to ever make it to 3 straight Super Bowls.
Some things might change for them, but they will still have Patrick Mahomes on 1 side, and Chris Jones on the other. They are also still coached by Andy Reid and have Steve Spanuolo coaching the defense. They also suddenly have a good young WR duo with Rashee Rice back healthy, and Xavier Worthy on the rise.
Teams tend to have a tough time the year after losing the Super Bowl. But you can never count the Chiefs out. We now know the Eagles are the better team, but there is a full off-season for the Chiefs to fix some of their flaws. As long as Mahomes is there, they will always be a team to take seriously.
The two teams will face off at Arrowhead this season. The Eagles beat them there in 2023 despite their many issues that season.
Detroit Lions
The Lions did not get a fair shake this year. The injuries on defense just mounted up. The Lions had just 10 of their 22 starters/ main backups make it to the playoffs. Among the missing players were Aidan Hutchinson, Carlton Davis, Alim McNeil, and Marcus Davenport. Imagine if the Eagles were missing Darius Slay, Jalen Carter, Josh Sweat, and Nolan Smith.
But even with the injured players being back for next season, they have new issues to deal with. Notably losing both their coordinators, who were superstars on that coaching staff. How much of their success on offense was Ben Johnson? How much of the defense was Aaron Glenn?
We saw this trip the Eagles up a couple of years ago. Nick Sirianni floundered after losing both of his guys. Dan Campbell is in a similar spot where he is not a playcaller and relies a lot on his coordinators. It will be interesting to see how that goes for them.
But new coaches aside, the Lions are a very talented team, and a revenge tour after last season is not out of the question. The Eagles might even see the Lions for Opening Night.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have been knocking on the door for years and keep coming up short. But Lamar Jackson might be the most talented QB in the league right now. Eventually, that could mean something.
To compare it to baseball, we saw the Dodgers flounder in the playoffs year after year despite their immense talent. They finally broke through. If the Ravens keep bashing their head into that dam, it may eventually break.
Like the Eagles, they have a dynamic run game, featuring both a star RB and a QB that can kill you on the ground. Their defense needs some tinkering, and their stars need to stop choking in big moments, but with a good offseason, they can certainly break through next season.
After beating the Ravens in the regular season last year, they avoid each other in the regular season this year. So if they do meet, it would not come until February in San Francisco.
Buffalo Bills
Everything I just wrote about the Ravens applies to the Bills too. They have come so close in the past few years.
If Dalton Kincaid doesn’t drop that ball, maybe they go on to beat the Chiefs. They likely would have been smoked by the Eagles, because the Eagles were a freight train not stopping for anybody, but the point is the Bills are close. Josh Allen needs more help on offense. Get him some dynamic skill players, they can get over that hump.
The Eagles travel up to Buffalo this season at some point. One of many tough road games.
Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels had one of the best rookie seasons we have ever seen. Getting his team all the way to the NFC Championship game, and playing well while doing so. But you learn the most about any player, especially a QB, in years 2 and 3.
Defensive Coordinators will pour over his tape this summer. If there is a flaw, they will find it. We will learn how special Daniels is in how he adapts to other teams adapting to him. A lot of QBs have had 1 great year, then fallen back to Earth. The great ones keep growing.
Take Hurts. He was elite in 2022, but then teams starting blitzing him like crazy, and he hit a slight speed bump in 2023. But this past season he was elite vs the blitz. Can Daniels adapt to how DCs defend him on the fly? That will decide how good of a QB he is.
They did rely a lot last season on players on contract years. Many might not be back. So it could be an adjustment year for the whole team. But if Daniels is as talented as he looked in year one, they are a team to watch not just next year, but going forward.
Obviously as division rivals these two teams will see each other a lot. And with how things look for the Cowboys and Giants, it could be the Eagles and Commanders butting heads for NFC East Supremacy for the next several years.
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans were what the Commanders were in 2023. A team with an exciting rookie QB, who seemed poised for greatness. 2024 was a down year, mind you even in a down year they still made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
I still think Stroud can be special. But as we just talked about with Daniels, he had an adjustment year. There are a lot of very smart defensive coordinators, and they figured something out. Now it is time for Stroud to adjust back. We saw in College, and in his rookie season, his potential is sky-high. He was one of the only QBs to be able to put up big points on those Georgia Bulldog Championship defenses. They also have Demeco Ryans, who I think is one of the better young coaches in the league.
People jumped the gun on the Texans this past year. An adjustment period should have been expected. But now that they got it out of the way, I think this could be the year the Texans make some noise.
The Eagles could only see them in the Super Bowl. So Philly does not have to worry about them for a while, but if the Eagles do make it back, the Texans might be there to try and stop the repeat.
Green Bay Packers
A lot of what I said about the Texans applies to the Packers. Their QB was not a rookie, but he was a first-time starter who exploded onto the scene. But there was less love for Love in year 2. He was banged up, never hit his stride, and looked terrible vs the Eagles in the playoffs. But it is worth saying Patrick Mahomes also looked awful vs the Eagles defense.
They are still a team that could be on the rise. It will be a season where we learn a lot about both Jordan Love and Matt LeFleur. LeFleur gets a ton of praise and has had great success in the regular season since taking over in 2019. That has yet to turn into post-season success. It is about time he changes that narrative.
The Eagles travel to Lambeau next season. You might be noticing a trend that they play a lot of these teams on the road this season.
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