Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles fans should feel much more confident heading into this Super Bowl than the last one.
Well, here we are again.
For the second time in seven seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles find themselves in the Super Bowl playing against a Greatest Of All Time quarterback (this time it’s Patrick Mahomes, not Tom Brady), and trying to prevent a dynasty from winning another title while, at the same time, attempting to avenge a Super Bowl defeat at the hands of that same QB.
Not only that, the Eagles are playing this year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans, the site of their first appearance, Super Bowl XV, in which the Birds fell to the Oakland Raiders 27-10.
The parallels are eerie.
For the Eagles to walk out of The Big Easy holding the Lombardi Trophy, they must once again slay a Goliath. They nearly did so two years ago with many of these same players. Jalen Hurts played the game of his life (outside of one costly fumble), A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith were monsters, and the offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage for most of the game. Normally, 35 points is enough to win a Super Bowl.
Unfortunately, two years ago, it wasn’t. This year’s team is different, and significantly better in some areas. In fact, I see five reasons why the 2024 Eagles are better equipped to beat the Chiefs this time around than the 2022 Eagles were.
In ‘22, the Eagles backfield consisted of Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott. Sanders had seven carries for 16 yards, Gainwell had seven for 21 and Scott ran three times for just eight yards. That’s 17 carries for 45 yards from the team’s trio of running backs, good for an average of 2.6 yards per attempt.
I’m thinking the Eagles can expect more from Saquon Barkley on Sunday.
Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has not allowed a 100-yard rusher this year, and if that trend holds in Super Bowl 59, his Chiefs will likely take home their third straight title, with two of them coming at the Birds’ expense. But Barkley simply hasn’t been stopped by anyone this year.
The Ravens’ defense allowed a league-best 3.6 yards per carry this season. In Week 13’s 24-19 win, Barkley ran 23 times for 107 yards and a touchdown. The Packers gave up an average of 4.0 yards per carry, tied with the Vikings for third-fewest. Barkley ran for 109 yards on 24 carries in Week 1, then for 119 yards on 25 attempts in the wild card round of the playoffs. The Steelers gave up just 4.1 yards per carry, and while Barkley was held to just 65 yards on 19 attempts, it was also a game in which the offense primarily focused on throwing the football, with great success.
It really hasn’t mattered what kind of defense the Eagles have faced this year. Saquon Barkley has run on them all. And given Spagnuolo likes to live in dime packages and...
