ClutchPoints
The Philadelphia Eagles had a thrilling come-from-behind win on Sunday, and even witnessed a lineman at high speed. But repeating as Super Bowl champions is extremely difficult. Only eight teams in history have been able to do it. So NFL observers need to pump the brakes on the Eagles’ back-to-back Super Bowl hype as if they’re an unstoppable machine.
Basically, the Eagles are this year’s Chiefs, who went 11-0 in one-score games in 2024. The Eagles will likely win a ton of close games, but that doesn’t mean they’ll win the Super Bowl. They have three wins by a combined total of 14 points. And six of those came on a meaningless tack-on score after a game-winning blocked field goal.
Kansas City won close game after close game in 2024, including a tight 32-29 decision over Buffalo in the AFC Championship game. But the Eagles drubbed the Chiefs 40-22 in the Super Bowl.
All of this isn’t to say the Eagles don’t belong in the driver’s seat. After all, the last 20 times they’ve lined up in a football game, they’ve won 19 of them. Plus, an injury to Jalen Hurts contributed to the 36-33 loss to the Commanders during that rather amazing stretch.
But the Eagles outscored the Commanders and Chiefs 95-45 in their final two games of 2024. This year, they could have lost each of their first three games.
If CeeDee Lamb had caught, instead of dropped, a pass in the final minutes of their Week 1 game, the Eagles could have been 0-1. If Travis Kelce hadn’t turned a touchdown into an interception with a drop, the Eagles might have fallen to 0-2. Look at those names. Those aren’t guys you expect to fail in those moments.
And then the Rams dominated them into the third quarter. Furthermore, the Rams had a chance to win on the last play with a 44-yard field goal — a kick with a success rate around 80 percent. The Eagles were going to lose, but they made their own break with the blocked kick.
Yes, it is undeniably true that the Eagles are 3-0 instead of 0-3. But can they count on the same bounces for the rest of the season and throughout the playoffs?
Hurts said it doesn’t matter, according to The Athletic.
“Nobody cares how it gets done,” Hurts said. “Just a matter of getting it done. You guys care about how it gets done — I don’t. Just going out there and find a way to win. A.J. made some big-time plays. He made some big-time catches, some big-time catches. Smitty made some big-time catches. Fred (Johnson) showed up, showed up when his number was called on. (Jordan Davis) on the other side. It’s a beautiful game. I just take a lot of pride in finding ways to win.”
But the problem is, it actually does matter. At least in...
