Context

[time2rock]

Context

Posted: February 13th, 2024 | Author: Tommy Lawlor

The Eagles got off to a 10-1 start. That was the best record in the league, but anyone who watched games would agree that the Niners were the best team in the league. They lost some games when they had injured players. When healthy, SF was dominating most opponents.

What did that get them?

A trip to the Super Bowl (good) and a painful loss (not so good).

No one who watched the Chiefs during the season thought they were the best team. They went 11-6, which is certainly good, but they had a lot of issues. Dropped passes were a huge problem, costing them a couple of games. Penalties were an issue. Erratic blocking was an issue.

But KC won the Super Bowl.

Andy Reid made some adjustments to his offense. Receivers quit dropping balls and started making plays. The OL played better. And Patrick Mahomes continued to be Patrick Mahomes.

Sports can be so funny. You can have a team dominate the regular season, but a playoff loss ruins it all. Another team can be up and down during the season, but then get hot in the playoffs and they get a place in history. The Chiefs are now a dynasty, having won 3 Super Bowls. The Niners look cursed, having lost 2 Super Bowls in five years.

If a couple of plays go differently, KC has one title and the Niners have a couple of more Lombardi’s in their trophy case. There is a fine line between success and failure. Right now Kyle Shanahan is all too familiar with the bad side of that line.

*****

There is an old saying…”to the victor goes the spoils”. That is certainly true in sports.

A year ago Jalen Hurts got a lot of hype. He led the Eagles to the Super Bowl and played at a really high level. Hurts was listed as a top QB on all the offseason lists. He got a ton of praise.

This year didn’t end so well for Hurts or the Eagles. Hurts deserves his share of blame for how things went, just like he deserved credit for how things went in 2022. Hurts won’t be considered a Top 10 QB by a lot of people this offseason.

That is absolutely fair. You can’t take just the good. You have to mix in all of his results.

If player evaluation is done right, it is constantly changing. Very few players stay at the same level every single year. James Bradberry went from being a good CB to one of the worst in the league. Jordan Mailata was better in 2023 than he was in 2022.

You always take in the newest information and make your evaluation.

*****

The Eagles gave Reddick permission to talk to other teams so he could get a better idea of what his contract value is. They aren’t necessarily looking to trade him and he sure didn’t request a trade.

The Eagles want him to be happy, but they know he’s not right now. He wants more money, which makes sense on his production. But as I mentioned in the previous post, Reddick isn’t a fit for all 32 teams. That is going to affect his value. He’s also getting older and still lacks ideal size. Just how much of a raise do you give him?

The two sides need to figure this out in the next month so they can plan for free agency.

*****

We all get emotional when watching sports. We yell mean, sometimes awful, things at the TV.

"Cut that bum!”

"Get him the heck out of Philly!”

But players are people. They have real feelings and emotions. I feel terrible every time I rip James Bradberry because I’ve heard he’s a good guy.

Siposs really hurt the Eagles in the Super Bowl, but I certainly don’t wish ill on him in real life. I hate that he had to go through something like this.

http://igglesblitz.com/2024/02/context-4/

[UK_EaglesFan89]

It all comes down to being really good at a particular thing and having an elite QB. If you have that then you are going to win big games and you are going to get to a fair few SBs.