Starting off the season, the Philadelphia Eagles struggled. Falling to 2-2 on the season after a 16-33 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the season was not looking great.
“I was a little worried. After the result of last year, two losses right out the gate did not look good.” Fifth Former Thomas Nye said. The Eagles then rose above the competition and proceeded to go 10-0 over their next games, beating playoff contenders, mainly the Baltimore Ravens and the Washington Commanders.
The surge was mainly due to the off-season work done by genius General Manager Howie Roseman. Roseman managed to secure running back Saquon Barkley, one of the best current running backs in the league from the conference rivals, the New York Giants.
Fifth Form Giants fan Elliot Goodspeed feels the loss. “It hurts me,” Goodspeed said.
This season, [Zack Baun] was signed out of free agency and then completed three-and-a-half sacks, one interception, and forced five fumbles on the way to being a DPOY Finalist.
Barkley had an all-time great rushing season in NFL history, breaking the 2000-yard mark during the regular season. He is only the 9th player to do so. Barkley scored fifteen touchdowns and had several massive plays including a backward hurdle over a defender and several long runs.
In addition to Barkley, Roseman pulled in Zach Baun, a player who no one would suspect would do well after his previous seasons with the New Orleans Saints. In his four seasons with the Saints, he had two sacks, one interception, and had not forced any fumbles.
This season, he was signed out of free agency and then completed three-and-a-half sacks, one interception, and forced five fumbles on the way to being a DPOY Finalist.
“Highly impressive. I think what you see with Zack [Baun], is just a guy that is tough, physical, loves football. Great work ethic,” Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni said.
Roseman and the Eagles front office also drafted extremely well. They filled one of the main gaps the Eagles had in their defense at the cornerback position. At the 22nd pick, the Eagles snapped up Quinyon Mitchell from The University of Toledo. Mitchell proved that he was worth this pick as he allowed only 23 completions out of 41 attempts. Mitchell was roughly 4% better at preventing completions compared to Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey, and his 5.2 yards per target is notably low.
Trading up to the 40th pick, the Eagles snagged Iowa Phenomenon Cooper DeJean. A fan favorite, DeJean has his own chant of “Coooop” which can regularly be heard at Lincoln Financial Field.
In addition to DeJean, the Eagles drafted Jalyx Hunt, Round 3 (Pick 94); Will Shipley, Round 4 (Pick 127); Ainias Smith, Round 5 (Pick 152); Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Round 5 (Pick 155); Trevor Keegan, Round 5 (Pick 172); Johnny Wilson, Round 6 (Pick 185); and Dylan McMahon, Round 6 (Pick 190).
After powering to a 12-3 record, the Eagles had a rough change: in their game against the Washington Commanders, star quarterback Jalen Hurts was hammered into the ground and suffered a concussion. The Eagles fell to the Commanders after the Commanders scored with six seconds left, giving them a lead.
After this heartbreaking loss, the Eagles walloped the Cowboys, 41-7. Then, they matched up against the Giants, Barkley’s former team, for the second time, winning while resting the majority of their starters for the playoffs ahead.
Throughout the season the Eagles’ defense proved their supremacy in the league and improvement since last year. Last season, the defense let in 25.6 points per game; this season, the defense dropped that number by over a touchdown to a league-best 17.9 points per game.
They held offenses to 278.4 yards per game, allowing only 4732 yards during the whole regular season. The second-place team, the Houston Texans, allowed the equivalent of another game’s worth of yards over the season.
The Eagles impressive 14-3 record scored them the second seed in the NFC.
“I felt great about the Eagles going into the playoffs. The offense and defense both looked stacked,” Fifth Former James Friel said. “Best Eagles team I’ve ever seen.”
The Eagles matched up with the Green Bay Packers, and due to their higher seeding, had a home game at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles worked through the Packers, earning a 22-10 win.
“I was psyched. I felt pretty good about the next month of games,” Fifth Former Peter McConnell said.
Next, the Eagles matched up with the Rams in the Divisional Round. In a snowy game, the Rams started to feel the cold and gave up a few costly turnovers. The Eagles powered through the rest of the game to win 28-22.
In the NFC Championship, the Eagles had a rematch against the phenomenal rookie Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders. Still feeling the sting of their loss in Week 16, the Eagles were ready to go. The Commanders continued to struggle against Barkley, and he continued to run rampant among them. After the Commanders wandered down the field and popped in a field goal, Saquon took the first play to the house with a 60-yard touchdown.
“It was crazy. First play of the game and he was gone,” Fifth Former James MacColl said.
The Eagles’ offense continued to churn down the field whenever they had the ball. The Commanders turned the ball over four times and the Eagles capitalized on each opportunity. After seven rushing touchdowns, the Eagles won the NFC Championship Game with the most points ever in NFL history: 55-23.
With the win, the Eagles earned a spot in the Super Bowl. Their opponents, the Kansas City Chiefs, had earned several narrow wins this season.
Coming into the game, two questions loomed for the Eagles: Could the Chiefs limit Barkley? Could the Eagles defense stop Mahomes?
The Chiefs held Barkley to just 2.3 yards per carry. However, he set the unofficial record for most yards, breaking Terrell Davis’s record of 2476 yards in 1998. Barkley ran for 57 yards in the Super Bowl to give him 2504 rushing yards on the season.
With the Chiefs’ defense dedicated to stopping Barkley, the passing game had free reign over the field. Wide receivers A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith, and Jahan Dotson and tight end Dallas Godert caught passes for several yards, and Brown and Smith scored touchdowns.
Hurts also scampered for two runs and pounded in a touchdown with the overpowered tush push. The Eagles finished the first half with an impressive 24 points.
On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs finally met a good defense. The Eagles’ four-man front line began trashing the Chiefs offensive line, forcing Mahomes to throw fast. The Eagles’ very strong secondary held all of the receivers in check, locking down the Chiefs’ offense. As Mahomes struggled to get an offense going, the Eagles forced sacks on consecutive drives crushing all hopes of rhythm.
A pick-six from Dejean had the Chiefs stumbling, and an interception inside the Chief’s ten-yard line by Baun forced the Chiefs into chaos. Tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Deandre Hopkins both dropped passes, and the Chiefs had only 23 total scrimmage yards in the first half.
Fifth Former Harrison Cross attended the Super Bowl.
“It was crazy. There was not a chance that we were going to lose after that first half,” Cross said. “Mahomes is not built like Tom Brady and could not pull off a comeback like that.”
He also spoke about the state of Caesars Superdome.
After the eight-minute mark in the fourth quarter, with the score 37-6, the Eagles began to play without the same intensity. The Eagles scored one more field goal while allowing the Chiefs two touchdowns. And then the game was over.
“It was insane. [Caesars Superdome] has a capacity of 65,000 but it felt like a whole lot more. There were also a ton of Eagles fans. When the Chiefs ran out, they got booed. Mahomes received a ton of boos and the refs as well. The first penalty on A.J. Brown had people chirping the refs,” Cross said.
In the second half, the onslaught continued. The Chiefs forced a three-and-out and then had a pass for a first down. However, the Eagles defense cracked back down and began beating them back again. After more sacks, the Chiefs went for a fourth down conversion and the ball got swatted. The Eagles offense began cruising down the field and kicker Jake Elliot scored several field goals.
After the eight-minute mark in the fourth quarter, with the score 37-6, the Eagles began to play without the same intensity. The Eagles scored one more field goal while allowing the Chiefs two touchdowns. And then the game was over.
“It was pretty great. Especially since we lost to the Chiefs two years ago in the Super Bowl. A great game to show that we were on top considering that we had a rough start to the season and collapsed last season. I was glad to see Saquon and Hurts get a win. Hurts is constantly over-hated and underrated,” Cross said.
