It was a great season. The Eagles were predicted to win 6.5 games this year. Many expected even fewer wins. The team was coming off a 4 win season. They had a new coach and new Quarterback who had a lot of questions surrounding his ability. In the end, the Birds won 9 games, made the playoffs, and did this will starting a youth movement that has a ton of great players under 25 years old. Some of my favorite moments or accomplishments from the season are below.
Game 1: A blowout
The expectations were low until the Eagles came out and beat the Falcons 32-6. Jalen Hurts threw for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns. Miles Sanders ran for 74 yards, and Devonta Smith had 6 catches for 71 yards. The defense was dominant and the offense was both creative and fast. It was a near perfect start to the season. Fans went from expecting 6 wins to 10 or 11. All was good. Unfortunately, it was one of the only positive games during the start of the season. Teams did not know what to expect from Sirianni and Gannon and they used that to their advantage. Once teams were able to watch film the season got much tougher.
Youth Movement
The Birds won the Super Bowl just a few years ago, but they had gotten old. They had no starts 25 or younger and the team was not winning. It was time for a big draft and a need to develop a new foundation that can carry the team into the next big run. They were able to accomplish that this season in a big way.
Jalen Hurts is a 23 year old quarterback with special legs that is improving almost every game. He is a natural leader who helped carry this team into the playoffs this season. There is no game too big for him and he has shown that he can be a very solid starting quarterback. Now the question becomes can he become an elite quarterback that allows the Birds to be in the playoffs every year.
Devonta Smith set the the Eagles rookie receiving yards record this season. He showed the route running and hands that make it appear that he can be an elite receiver for the foreseeable future. The Eagles got it right with this first round pick.
Jordan Mailata is a special player who should be a perennial pro bowler and maybe much more. He is still learning the game and is already playing at a Pro Bowl level. He is big, fast, and has incredibly light feet. There is no limit to how good he can be. On one play this year, Jordan pushed a D-linement down with one hand an another one down with his other had. That just doesn’t happen. Mailata reminds me of the movie “The Blind Side”.
Miles Sanders is another player who is often forgotten as a potential elite player. When healthy, he averages over 5 yards per carry which is amazing. With this line and a healthy season, it would not be a surprise to see him run for over 1500 yards. Reuben Frank talks about this is in season wrap-up (see number 4).
We also had a great draft bringing in a number of players that have already shown they can start and potentially do even more. Landon Dickerson is already an above average guard in the NFL. He could easily become a regular pro bowler. Milton Williams has incredible athleticism and has already shown that he can play both tackle and end. He gets better every game. Kenny Gainwell has shown very impressive flashes and should be the #2 running back on this team next year.
Overcoming Adversity
The Eagles were in a big hole, sitting at 2-6 and it looked like all was done. They held together through a combination of positive coaching, great veterans, and confident younger players. The team got on a run and won seven of the last 9 to finish the season at 9-8 and make the playoffs. This showed a lot about Sirianni’s ability to keep the team together and to change the way he ran the offense. A season like this says a lot more about this coach and this team than a season with less adversity.
Exciting Future
You cannot help but be excited for the future of this team. They have a creative young coach who knows how to connect with players. They have a nucleus of young and up and coming players who are good enough (with a little more help in this years draft) to compete for championships. Best of all, you look around the division and things look very promising. The Giants are a reminder as to how hard it can be to rebuild a team. It has been years and there is no end to the losing insight. The Redskins are only marginally better and have an owner that cannot do anything right. The Cowboys are the class of the division, but they continue to show that they cannot win the big ones and their Dak Prescott’s big salary is about to kick in. Things are about to get a lot harder for them.
This is likely my last Eagles article until the draft. Let’s hope they can have a second successful draft and build out the rest of this team. Fly Eagles Fly!!