PHILADELPHIA — For the fifth time in six seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles are headed back to the playoffs.
This kind of consistent presence in the postseason has only been replicated once in franchise history when from 2000 to 2006, the Eagles made the playoffs in six of seven seasons.
The recent run has been a golden era for the franchise that includes their first ever Super Bowl win, three division championships, and two #1 seeds in the NFC.
Somehow, the Eagles have found this consistency through what has felt at times like complete chaos.
The early 2000's run was incredible, but the success the Eagles have found from 2017 to 2022 is almost more impressive considering the obstacles they have had to overcome, even if a lot of those obstacles were self inflicted.
A rebuild after a four win 2020 season, two different head coaches, four different quarterbacks starting in the postseason, a historic amount of injuries, bad drafting, locker room conflicts, and a near-complete roster overhaul: Looking at the absolute mess the Eagles were in after the 2020 season, most teams would take years to recover.
General manager Howie Roseman took just one year to rebuild the roster into a wild card playoff team, and now, two years later, perhaps into the best, and most talented team in the NFL.
Philadelphia got back to the top of the football mountain doing many of the same things that have always kept them as a consistent contender. The team built from the trenches out.
The Eagles boast the best starting five of any offensive line in the league, and the team's defensive line is the deepest in football.
While they haven’t had just one elite quarterback bring them sustained success like Donovan McNabb did for a decade, they have had three different signal callers give them MVP runs in Carson Wentz, Nick Foles, and now, Jalen Hurts.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE LOCKED ON EAGLES PODCAST: Apple // Google Podcasts // Spotify // Stitcher // TuneIn
Roseman has also gotten back to what made him executive of the year in 2017. He nailed free agent signings, including Haason Reddick and James Bradberry. Roseman got back to being aggressive in trades, as well, landing the likes of A.J. Brown and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson in separate deals.
Another important factor that led to the Eagles turnaround was Roseman learning from his past mistakes, some of which had a big hand in the 2020 collapse.
There were a lot of reasons for the downfall of Wentz in Philadelphia. A huge reason for that historic regression was the lack of weapons Roseman had for his franchise quarterback. Roseman wouldn’t make the same mistake with Hurts.
How many teams can honestly say they have a better support system for their young gunslinger over the Eagles?
Who can offer their QB an elite offensive line, perhaps the best trio of young weapons the league has to offer in Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert? Not to mention a Pro Bowl running back in Miles Sanders.
Not many.
It has helped Hurts become an MVP candidate in his third season.
For years, the Eagles also struggled to add young, top-tier talent through the draft. Over the last two draft classes, that has completely changed. Roseman has brought in longterm core pieces that can lengthen this championship window.
He added stars on offense in DeVonta Smith and Landon Dickerson. Cam Jurgens also showed a lot of promise this past preseason as he is eventually set to replace Jason Kelce when the Eagles legend finally retires.
On defense. Roseman brought in stars from the 2022 Georgia national championship roster in Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean.
Even 2021 third round pick Milton Williams has shown flashes of potential in a reserve role up front with four sacks, despite rarely playing over 30% of the snaps on the defensive line.
It has certainly been a dramatic, roller coaster ride since 2017, but the Eagles have been one of the most consistent teams in the NFL over that span, and it doesn’t look like that is going away anytime soon.