15 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

How on paper does this defense have more talent than the Super Bowl one from 24? It’s not at safety or edge rusher. Is Woolen an upgrade over Slay from that season? We’ll see and i hope I’m wrong, but I think we have ourselves a 10 win team and are fortunate to be in a weak division

You'd make the argument that the younger guys have improved since 2024 (Q, Coop, JD, JC, Jalyx!, etc.) while the replacements might be on par with the guys we lost. Ojomo has a chance to be good as Milt, can Woolen approximate Slay on the backend of his career(?), Mukuba : CGJ, Greenard: Sweaty, etc. I'm certain that the team has a solid floor due to the defense, the question is will it be top-5 defense because the offense is more than adequate -or- only top-10 because they are forced to play more snaps like last season. Being the #1 Defense has lot to do with what is going on with the offense, specifically can they control the ball and close out games.

Just saw the ad that told me that NFL opening day is now on a WEDNESDAY. I hate the NFL. Where does it end?

51 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

Naw that sounds just as pointless

It is but it would draw the same viewers if not more than random probowl games with snoop Huntley

3 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Just saw the ad that told me that NFL opening day is now on a WEDNESDAY. I hate the NFL. Where does it end?

It’s all so they can shoe horn in an Australian game

49 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

How on paper does this defense have more talent than the Super Bowl one from 24? It’s not at safety or edge rusher. Is Woolen an upgrade over Slay from that season? We’ll see and i hope I’m wrong, but I think we have ourselves a 10 win team and are fortunate to be in a weak division

Carter, Davis, Ojomo are better than a young Carter, out of shape Davis, and Williams. If a smart person was offered either 3 they would take this year along with having a 4th who could start if not be the first guy off the bench for most teams.

Yes, edge is better this year. We don't view it that way because he is hurt, but he is just as good as Sweat. Hunt is about to be a monster and better than his rookie year. People are sleeping on Smith. Again, smart GMs would take this roster over the SB.

That line on paper is ready to have a monster year and will ser the tone for the D.

LB the same situation. 3 deep and I'd take them over thr SB year

Safety is the only point where they are weaker but the first 3 spots are strong enough it may not matter.

CB Q is better than Slay, Coop is better than his rookie year, and Riq is better than Rodgers.

Even if people disagree with my assessment that D is loaded with talent that will be a real problem for offenses. There is no reason to be down on them.

10 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

It’s all so they can shoe horn in an Australian game

The NFL won't be happy until they have a game played on Mars.

The 2024 Eagles were arguably the greatest team in franchise history. It’s not negative to think this team might be a step back. Geez

19 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Just saw the ad that told me that NFL opening day is now on a WEDNESDAY. I hate the NFL. Where does it end?

"Tuesday Night Football live from Abu Dhabi! Brought to you by Kalshi! The website where you can bet on weather and even death!

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-blah blah blah"

Is someone going to keep track of predictions this year? Win totals before the year and game results every week?

7 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

The 2024 Eagles were arguably the greatest team in franchise history. It’s not negative to think this team might be a step back. Geez

NFL history.

Sure its reasonable to think this years team wont be as good as the best team in NFL history.

But a lot of people are talking like they arent super bowl contenders, and some still think they can be.

I went to Parx last night. For those interested, the Eagles were +125 to win the division, +900 to win the NFC, and +1700 to win the Super Bowl. Last year they were -157, +325, and +650 respectively.

5 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

"Tuesday Night Football live from Abu Dhabi! Brought to you by Kalshi! The website where you can bet on weather and even death!

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-blah blah blah"

I actually can't believe they haven't had a Saudi Arabia game yet

8 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

NFL history.

Sure its reasonable to think this years team wont be as good as the best team in NFL history.

But a lot of people are talking like they arent super bowl contenders, and some still think they can be.

From my perspective, I haven't seen many people talking down on the team here. If you go into the cesspools of Twitter, Reddit or Facebook, maybe. But here I haven't seen anyone even suggest this is a below .500 team that is missing the playoffs.

The defense is going to carry the team and give them a high floor. I'm not sold on the offense yet but we'll see. If they can get the run game going again it will look a lot like 2024 but so much went right in that year in regards to health, players having career years (Barkley, Baun, CJGJ, Becton, Mailata, Jurgens etc) and just being able to dominate on both sides of the ball. I think that will be hard to repeat.

1 minute ago, LeanMeanGM said:

From my perspective, I haven't seen many people talking down on the team here. If you go into the cesspools of Twitter, Reddit or Facebook, maybe. But here I haven't seen anyone even suggest this is a below .500 team that is missing the playoffs.

The defense is going to carry the team and give them a high floor. I'm not sold on the offense yet but we'll see. If they can get the run game going again it will look a lot like 2024 but so much went right in that year in regards to health, players having career years (Barkley, Baun, CJGJ, Becton, Mailata, Jurgens etc) and just being able to dominate on both sides of the ball. I think that will be hard to repeat.

I agree. Id say 2024 will be almost impossible to repeat exactly.

But I have super bowl aspirations for this team too.

I also count on the D to carry them and set the floor high. But through preseason I've developed the belief that they will be back to an elite ground game. And I feel that the passing scheme will allow them to convert 3rd downs when needed. It looks like a breath of fresh air and I think it's gonna get the job done.

I posted the wrong link to this earlier and couldn't edit that post so I deleted it...I have never heard of a Philly cheesesteak eggroll...I might have to make a run to **** and try them out.

1 hour ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

How on paper does this defense have more talent than the Super Bowl one from 24? It’s not at safety or edge rusher. Is Woolen an upgrade over Slay from that season? We’ll see and i hope I’m wrong, but I think we have ourselves a 10 win team and are fortunate to be in a weak division

I think you can argue it does….in the same way it’s hard to argue that the offensive line will not be worse this year.

The entire defense outside of Epps, Greenard, and Baun consists of players who should be on the ascent of their career arc….not plateau and certainly not decline.

I do think we’ll look back on Greenard as a disappointment (and certainly if we are comparing him to 2024 Sweat)…but the rest of the defense is just oozing with talent.

1 hour ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

How on paper does this defense have more talent than the Super Bowl one from 24? It’s not at safety or edge rusher. Is Woolen an upgrade over Slay from that season? We’ll see and i hope I’m wrong, but I think we have ourselves a 10 win team and are fortunate to be in a weak division

24 vs 26

Q now is better and more experienced than Q then

DeJean is too

Woolen and Slay are a push IMO

CJGJ and Blank vs Mukuba/DeJean/Epps is a win for 24

Baun vs Baun is a push IMO

Campbell/Trotter is much better than Burks

Carter now is better than Carter 24

Davis now is significantly better than Davis 24

Ojomo and Williams are a push

I would take Hunt and Nolan Smith over Sweat and Nolan Smith

Greenard is an unknown at this point

2 minutes ago, Joe Ball said:

I posted the wrong link to this earlier and couldn't edit that post so I deleted it...I have never heard of a Philly cheesesteak eggroll...I might have to make a run to **** and try them out.

Philly Cheesesteak egg rolls are legit. It's the only acceptable alternative to a Philly Cheesesteak, imo.

Bad week for losing people

1 minute ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Philly Cheesesteak egg rolls are legit. It's the only acceptable alternative to a Philly Cheesesteak, imo.

Good to know, I am definitely trying them now. There is a small chain of restaurants called Texadelphia started by a Philadelphia native in Austin, Texas, in 1981. There are only a few left, but is still one in DAL, I would eat there every couple weeks when I had to drive in to work. The founder Joel Stanley sold the business in 2014 and sadly passed away from pancreatic cancer shortly after. https://texadelphia.com/

50 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

Carter, Davis, Ojomo are better than a young Carter, out of shape Davis, and Williams. If a smart person was offered either 3 they would take this year along with having a 4th who could start if not be the first guy off the bench for most teams.

Yes, edge is better this year. We don't view it that way because he is hurt, but he is just as good as Sweat. Hunt is about to be a monster and better than his rookie year. People are sleeping on Smith. Again, smart GMs would take this roster over the SB.

That line on paper is ready to have a monster year and will ser the tone for the D.

LB the same situation. 3 deep and I'd take them over thr SB year

Safety is the only point where they are weaker but the first 3 spots are strong enough it may not matter.

CB Q is better than Slay, Coop is better than his rookie year, and Riq is better than Rodgers.

Even if people disagree with my assessment that D is loaded with talent that will be a real problem for offenses. There is no reason to be down on them.

To get into it position by position…

DT: Williams is better than Ojomo. But Carter and Davis should be sufficiently improved to give this to 2026.

Edge: I strongly disagree that Greenard will match Sweat. I’m not expecting much of an impact there, to be honest. I think Nolan Smith needs to get back to where he was down the stretch that year and actually could do it. Hunt should be much improved. Overall, I give this to 2024.

LB: this one also goes to 2024. Baun took a step back last year and it’s hard to project him back to 2024 level. Dean is better than Campbell until proven otherwise.

CB: should be a huge 2026 advantage.

S: 2024 advantage. CJGJ and Blankenship vs Makuba and Epps. But I’m not sure it’s by as much as everyone thinks once these guys settle in.

3-2 for 2024 IMO but I think the biggest gap should be better CBs for 2026.

46 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Is someone going to keep track of predictions this year? Win totals before the year and game results every week?

I am not going to be able to do the weekly score predictions.

However, I can compile the season record predictions.

The case can be made that this defense is entering its prime with the core pieces, while it was still more raw in 2024.

I will call the defensive line a wash if Greenard is healthy.

I will take Woolen over an older Slay, as far as having a higher ceiling and creating more turnovers. At linebacker, If you are going by who actually played the latter part of 2024 and the actual Superbowl starter I'd take Campbell over Burks. And I like Trotter as well. But with Dean playing pretty well when healthy, I'd just call it even there.

Overall, the 2 defenses are pretty even, but I think the main difference could be at safety. I was never a huge Blankenship fan, but he and CJ were a good combination that year. Makuba hopefully continues his development and has looked good early on here, but remains a question still. I think Howie still needs to find a starter there. Epps and Carter are stop-gaps at best and just depth guys.

This defense should eat, if the offense just has a running game and burns some clock, so they don't have to be laid out on the field with an excessive snap count. But this defense, on paper, should be a top 5 defense and have a bunch of guys that can all take the next step with untapped potential.

21 minutes ago, Joe Ball said:

I posted the wrong link to this earlier and couldn't edit that post so I deleted it...I have never heard of a Philly cheesesteak eggroll...I might have to make a run to **** and try them out.

Nothing surprises me anymore from ****. The superstore ones are nuts.

3 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

To get into it position by position…

Edge: I strongly disagree that Greenard will match Sweat. I’m not expecting much of an impact there, to be honest.

During the regular season Sweat was very inconsistent. He would have good games and games where he completely disappeared. His Super Bowl performance far exceeded any expectations based on his regular season play.