Start of Something Big

Winning the Super Bowl last February changed Eagles history. No matter what happens, this organization will always be part of a special club. You either have the Lombardi Trophy or you don’t. And the Eagles most certainly do.

There are different hierarchies within that club. The Steelers have 6 Super Bowl wins. The Bucs have one.

Are the Eagles going to be a one and done champion or was last year the start of something big?

The Eagles became the 4th team to go from a losing record to Super Bowl champion. Two of the other three turned into dynasties https://t.co/HVRoc8uCRB

— Football Perspective (@fbgchase) July 1, 2018

I’ve been looking for some data to point out the fact the Eagles look like the real deal and not just an anomaly. Chase Stuart just did that for me.

The 1981 Niners, 1999 Rams and 2001 Patriots all went from losing records to winning the SB. The Niners and Patriots became major dynasties. The Rams are an interesting story.

They got back to the Super Bowl in 2001, but lost that…to those Pats. One thing that hurt the Rams is that right after winning it all, coach Dick Vermeil “retired”. And then went to KC to become coach. Mike Martz replaced him as coach in St. Louis. Martz was a gifted offensive mind, but a highly flawed head coach. If Vermeil had stayed, the Rams might have won another title.

The Eagles are bringing back the bulk of their team. They are bringing back the bulk of the coaching staff. They sure feel like a team that will compete for the Super Bowl this season, as well as into the future.

It seems like teams that win based on defense are more likely to be anomalies. The 1985 Bears never made it back. The 2000 Ravens couldn’t recapture their magic. Nor could the 2002 Bucs. Those teams kept their great players, but playing defense at an all-time great level isn’t something you can sustain. The Bucs were still Top 5 in points and yards allowed in 2003. They just didn’t make the same number of plays (and Brad Johnson threw 21 INTs of his own).

Great offenses are usually built around great QBs. If you have the right QB, you are going to be a contender on a regular basis. The Eagles have the right QB and the right backup QB. They should absolutely be in contention this year.

It is fair to try and poke holes in the Eagles. History is filled with teams that thought they had just won the first of several titles. Seattle was the king of the NFL world in 2013. They had a great young QB and record-setting defense. Everybody studied their schemes and their roster. How did they do it?

Seattle came oh so close to winning the SB again the next year, but Malcolm Butler picked them off and brought the Patriots dynasty back to life. Here we are heading into 2018 and Seattle has been completely torn apart. No dynasty for them. They got their ring and a bunch of What If’s.

Jimmy Bama wrote his dumpster fire piece on the Eagles on Friday. It is hard to really find major holes, but he did point out some legitimate concerns.

I’m pretty confident in the Eagles because of what we saw last year. They were the best team in the league all year long. They beat good teams and blew the doors off bad teams. They dealt with a challenging schedule (logistically speaking). They overcame a slew of key injuries. This wasn’t a case of a team winning a bad division and then getting hot in the postseason. This wasn’t about lucky matchups.

The Eagles beat the defending NFC champions in the first round of the playoffs. Then they beat the best defense in football. Then they beat the top offense (and defending SB champs) to win the Super Bowl. That’s about as legit as you can get.

If history is any indicator, the Eagles are going to be a lot of fun to watch for the next few years.

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