PHILADELPHIA — Editor's note: The above video is from Aug. 22.
Over the years, the Philadelphia Eagles have had their fair share of low points.
Whether it be rebuilds, fired coaches, failed quarterbacks or hyped up preseason “contenders” failing to meet expectations, the fans have certainly had reasons to complain.
While most don’t need a lot of help to see those lows have been outnumbered by the highs, with the Eagles being one of the most consistent winners of the 21st century, looking through the lens of their Week 1 opponent in the Detroit Lions makes you appreciate the team's sustained success even more.
It is almost surreal to see how little success the Lions have had, and to see just how much patience and emotional stamina it requires to be an invested fan in Detroit.
Sure, all teams have bad stretches.
The Lions aren’t the only team that has been bad for most of the 2000s. However, Detroit has dealt with this for the vast majority of their existence.
This stat shouldn’t be true but it is: In the Eagles' championship season of 2017, Philadelphia had more playoff wins than the Lions have had since 1957.
Yes, you read that correctly.
The Eagles had three playoff wins in their Super Bowl run. Detroit has just two playoff victories in the last 65 years.
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In just the last 22 years alone, the Lions have had 17 losing seasons. Eight of those losing seasons resulted in fewer than four wins. One season in 2008, they didn’t even win a single game.
In the 11 years with Matthew Stafford at the helm, their most talented quarterback in franchise history, Detroit went to the playoffs just twice and lost in the wild card round both times. Then, Lions fans had to watch Stafford go win a Super Bowl in his first season with the Los Angeles Rams.
Again, the emotional stamina in Michigan is superb.
This isn’t to lower the bar for the Eagles and saying things have always been great, just because it has been better than what the Lions have dealt with.
In the last decade, even after a Super Bowl win, the Eagles have struggled to sustain consistent success as a championship contender. There have been a lot of playoff berths, but there has also been a lot of inconsistency
Whether it be wild card playoff teams suffering first round losses or fast starts to new eras dramatically regressing within a few years; it isn’t always rainbows and unicorns.
But, the expectations are higher now.
The deep playoff runs of the early 2000's, the Super Bowl win, four playoff seasons in the last five years; the bar is set differently in Philadelphia.
That always becomes more clear when these matchups bring the state of other franchises to your attention.