PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles are the #1 seed and NFC East division champions. Throughout the majority of the 2022 season the team dominated. They went on a multi-month winning streak, they set team and individual records, and they were led by an MVP-caliber quarterback. Then injuries started to pile up, including to Jalen Hurts, and it took the final weeks of the season to wrap everything up. It wasn’t pretty.
Sound familiar?
If you look at the timeline of the 2022 Eagles, it is eerily similar to the 2017 Super Bowl season.
Nine straight wins, division clinched, and then Carson Wentz goes down. Nick Foles struggles for three weeks, but the Eagles pull out the #1 seed with an ugly, low scoring Christmas Eve matchup against the Oakland Raiders.
Fans knew the value of having the road to the Super Bowl go through Lincoln Financial Field, but the inconsistent final month didn’t instill a lot of confidence heading into the postseason. So much so that there were actual debates about whether or not Foles should be benched for third string backup Nate Sudfeld.
The 2022 Eagles are heading into the playoffs in a similar fashion. They are coming off the worst stretch of the season, losing two straight games with a chance to clinch the top seed, and then barely beating Davis Webb and the New York Giants backups. It took an onside recovery at the end of the game, only leading by six points to finish this thing off. The result was finally there, but they took the most difficult, and frustrating path possible.
Feeling as confident in a Super Bowl run as you were a month ago?
Probably not.
But just like the 2017 team, the 2022 Eagles can turn things around. In fact, you could argue they are set up better than that Super Bowl team to do so.
Needing just two home wins in the playoffs to make it to the Super Bowl is a massive advantage. Having home field advantage in the NFL playoffs is more important than in any other sport’s postseason. Having home field advantage in one of the hardest cities to play in? Even more crucial.
Do the Eagles win a championship in 2017 without it?
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The Eagles also have home field advantage in an NFC conference that is wide open, and extremely inconsistent. Even at the top. The San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, they have all had their ups and downs in 2022. Do any of them seem like unbeatable juggernauts? How much fear do Brock Purdy and Kirk Cousins instill in you, heading on the road for a potential NFC championship game?
The Eagles also have Hurts back with another two weeks to heal his shoulder injury. The 2017 team got elite QB play in the postseason, but they had to bank on a backup pulling that off as Wentz would not return with torn ligaments in his knee.
This year they have their MVP candidate back. That will always give you a chance even if all else fails.
Starting right tackle Lane Johson and defensive end Josh Sweat are also both likely to return to the lineup for the divisional round.
This team is still the most talented roster in football when healthy.
It isn’t ideal to be playing your worst football of the season heading into a postseason where you have the best chance of winning a title in years. The Eagles need to hold themselves accountable and take this three game slump seriously.
But pump the breaks on the all out panic.
This team has shown the maturity, and accountability to get this run back on track. You always hear Hurts and the leaders of the team say they have set a standard, a standard that can probably never be reached. They strive for perfection. That is the kind of team you can trust won’t get too caught up in the top seed and division title talk. The kind of team that isn’t close to being satisfied.
As A.J. Brown said in his postgame press conference following the win over New York, “I’m trying to get two more hats this year.”