In 10 years will we look back at 2017 as the (amazing) anomaly in an unspectacular era?

[Sack that QB]

The Eagles are 10-14 since the Super Bowl against teams not named the WFT and the Giants. Wentz and Doug are 14-14 in their last 28 games together. The 3 non Super Bowl seasons range from pretty good to average. Other than the SB season there is very little consistency from week to week, hell none from quarter to quarter. They've survived the last couple years beating up bad teams in the division(and they didn't even do that yesterday) and are below average against everyone else in the NFL.

But mainly, forget the stats. Things don't look the same. I don't think anyone can deny that. There was a chemistry about 2017, a special kind of scheming, play calling, and level of execution that didn't have in 2016 and haven't had since. 2017 is looooong gone now, and the magic hasn't been seen since. Even last season's December run, it was far from magical. They need miracles to barely beat tanking terrible teams, and Dallas basically gave up and Dak was playing with a bum shoulder.

In 10 years are we going to look back at the Doug and Wentz era as just an "okay" era of football that happened to have one year in there that was the most amazing season ever, but ended up being the outlier? Or do you still believe this era can recapture greatness at some point under Doug and Wentz?

[NYGFEAGLE]

Same Eagles different generations.. why 

[toolg]

2018 season was some fun. In the playoffs there was the double-doink game, and they gave it their all against the Saints in the Superdome only to come up short. In 2019, losing Wentz to a cheap shot early in the Wild Card game was a bummer. Injuries have been their Achilles heel (no pun intended). The difference in 2017 was no matter who they plugged in, they found success. They've come up short in 2018-2019. Not sure if it's coaching (ie. they lost Reich's genius on offense), or if they lost too much veteran leadership in subsequent seasons? Whatever it is, I agree, the fire to excel isn't burning quite as bright. I hope they find it.

[NOTW]

2017 struck lighting in a bottle in many ways.

Wentz was considered an MVP candidate and they were headed for the #1 seed when he got hurt but people panicked thinking the season was over.  The players rallied around being underdogs as the #1 seed and embraced Foles who played great in that stretch.  The coaches adjusted playcalling to suit Foles.  Howie brought in veterans through trades and FA that all worked out well and contributed.  The team had a good culture and supported one another and you didn't hear about any real drama.  Reich was also a good OC and it's been difficult since he left.

[Godfather]

I hope Reich gets fired so we can bring him back

[The Norseman]

13 minutes ago, NOTW said:

2017 struck lighting in a bottle in many ways.

Wentz was considered an MVP candidate and they were headed for the #1 seed when he got hurt but people panicked thinking the season was over.  The players rallied around being underdogs as the #1 seed and embraced Foles who played great in that stretch.  The coaches adjusted playcalling to suit Foles.  Howie brought in veterans through trades and FA that all worked out well and contributed.  The team had a good culture and supported one another and you didn't hear about any real drama.  Reich was also a good OC and it's been difficult since he left.

This.  Everything just clicked in that season in a totally unbelievable way.  I still can't make sense of it all.  If any of us thought that that was year one of a pending Eagles dynasty we were foolishly mistaken. 

[Portyansky]

Reich was the ticket. And NE exposed our D in the SB. Remember after the KC game loss. We started to control the clock, run game on both sides of the ball. That contributed to our success. 

I'm not giving up on the season. Our O seemed very "vanilla" yesterday. And DP figured it was good enough, and it was till the mistakes started. We got super sloppy.

 

[Snoop88]

Yes.  Howie and Doug will be viewed as the flukiest one year wonders in nfl history. 

[Goingpolloloco]

No. I don’t think so. Right now, making the playoffs 3 out of 4 years is good. Winning the SB with a backup and then having said backup lead your team to another late season playoff birth. Then pulling off another run at the end of the season with trash WRs; none of this can be overlooked. The eagles have stayed competitive every year under Doug. It’s been an entertaining ride so far. 

[Utebird]

I think a lot of that season on offense had to do with the advent of the RPO since then defenses have caught up and pederson and Wentz haven't looked the same as that one magical year 

Also 2017 had a bunch of guys have career or really good years. Clement an UDFA rookie played big all year. Blount Ajayi formed a great power run game jeffrey was great as a possession chain mover. They had 3 TEs all with different skill sets that all played well. Torrey Smith was a legit deep threat Agholor had a breakout year. On offense the addition of Brooks really helped solidify an already good o line

Defense Chris long jernigan mcleod and robinson were all key additions and when hicks went down kendricks stepped right in and had one of his better seasons as an eagle. 

That team had great chemistry as well and a bunch of likeable players and just a loose fun bunch.

Yesterday looked like everyone was pressing. Ertz and Wentz looked constipated the 2nd half and played like it. Those 2 guys are leaders and both choked. 

I don't think we'll see that fun 2017 team again I think they were magic in a bottle and since then have just been meh

[nipples]

2 hours ago, Godfather said:

I hope Reich gets fired so we can bring him back

I think you guys need to slow down on the Reich fanboying. His team didn’t exactly look stellar yesterday either, losing to the Jags. 46:21 pass:run ratio in his play calls. 

[pallidrone]

I was extremely pissed watching that game yesterday. Just how does a team come out firing like that and then completely crap the bed in the second half?

However, taking a step back and looking at things, this is week 1 where most teams are never as good as they look or as bad as they look, in a season of COVID and no preseason, I would like to think that yesterday was just one of those games. 1 game does not define a team or a season, especially in week 1.

Doug has coached 4 full season. In that he has been to the playoffs three times and won a Super Bowl. I trust he can fix this and get this guys playing together better, because he has had a history of doing that.

Even with that said, they could still go on a losing streak. It is week one and they are already hemorrhaging more players then they should.

[Arsenal79]

2017 was PURE LUCK.  Not sustainable in any way.  It's pretty clear now.  It will be more clear when this team finishes .500 or under.

And don't give me "making the playoffs" in 2018 and 2019.  We only made the playoffs those years because the division was complete and total TRASH.

[Madriver]

It took KC 50 YEARS to get another SB win, so...yeah...

[EaglesIreland]

Well depends how long the era is. I’ve been an eagles fan for twenty years and after the NFC championship games in a row and only winning one, the super bowl loss against New England and the division titles and playoff wins and loses I see 2017 as the high point of my era of following the eagles. I think it’s a bit simplistic to see the 2017 season in isolation as an anomaly and while the last two years weren’t to that level they weren’t bad seasons. I do think the next ten years if we don’t win another super bowl will always be compared to 2017. And yes the game yesterday wasn’t the finest moment ever but given the issues there are on this team and given there was no preseason and an abnormal off season in general I think it’s hardly surprising. 

[NYEagle]

I will say this, I've been an Eagles fan since '80....so I don't give a flying f!!!  I've seen so many good to great Eagles teams seasons end in every way imaginable so to actually see them be the last team standing for ONCE.....well I'm good.  Doesn't mean I don't get frustrated or want more....but honestly, I didn't think that day would ever come!  I mean I watched them lose to the Raiders after they beat them already that year....I watched them (or tried to) in the fog bowl where they should have rolled the Bears!  I watched them have arguably have one of the best defenses in the history of the game, with 5 different QB's go 10-6 AND NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS.....I was at the NFCCG vs. the Bucs after we had beaten them over and over in 20 degree weather, last game at the Vet.....

[Sack that QB]

1 hour ago, EaglesIreland said:

Well depends how long the era is. I’ve been an eagles fan for twenty years and after the NFC championship games in a row and only winning one, the super bowl loss against New England and the division titles and playoff wins and loses I see 2017 as the high point of my era of following the eagles. I think it’s a bit simplistic to see the 2017 season in isolation as an anomaly and while the last two years weren’t to that level they weren’t bad seasons. I do think the next ten years if we don’t win another super bowl will always be compared to 2017. And yes the game yesterday wasn’t the finest moment ever but given the issues there are on this team and given there was no preseason and an abnormal off season in general I think it’s hardly surprising. 

This is true, but don't forget Doug was the one who set those new higher expectations by declaring that "the new norm." He puffed his chest out and boasted that being a championship contender was going to be a regular thing for them. And it hasn't been. That doesn't mean they need to win the SB every year, but they've regressed each year. Clearly sustaining high level success was the proclamation and it was a false one to this point.

[EazyEaglez]

I don’t think I could ever view this era as just okay. They won the Super Bowl. It can never be taken away from them.

[EaglesIreland]

13 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

This is true, but don't forget Doug was the one who set those new higher expectations by declaring that "the new norm." He puffed his chest out and boasted that being a championship contender was going to be a regular thing for them. And it hasn't been. That doesn't mean they need to win the SB every year, but they've regressed each year. Clearly sustaining high level success was the proclamation and it was a false one to this point.

Well we didn’t expect him to come out and proclaim the eagles under his watch were going to be browns of the NFC east did we  ? But even if he’d never said that when you win a super bowl, it gives a team and a fans base a taste for success so 2018 and 2019 were always going to be compared unfavourably to 2017. No season going forward will ever top 2017 because winning a super bowl is the pinnacle. You can match and build on it but not top it. 

[seengreen]

23 hours ago, Sack that QB said:

The Eagles are 10-14 since the Super Bowl against teams not named the WFT and the Giants. Wentz and Doug are 14-14 in their last 28 games together. The 3 non Super Bowl seasons range from pretty good to average. Other than the SB season there is very little consistency from week to week, hell none from quarter to quarter. They've survived the last couple years beating up bad teams in the division(and they didn't even do that yesterday) and are below average against everyone else in the NFL.

But mainly, forget the stats. Things don't look the same. I don't think anyone can deny that. There was a chemistry about 2017, a special kind of scheming, play calling, and level of execution that didn't have in 2016 and haven't had since. 2017 is looooong gone now, and the magic hasn't been seen since. Even last season's December run, it was far from magical. They need miracles to barely beat tanking terrible teams, and Dallas basically gave up and Dak was playing with a bum shoulder.

In 10 years are we going to look back at the Doug and Wentz era as just an "okay" era of football that happened to have one year in there that was the most amazing season ever, but ended up being the outlier? Or do you still believe this era can recapture greatness at some point under Doug and Wentz?

If it is. I'm a happy mofo. The goal was to win the SB. The Philadelphia Eagle team did that. 60 years we waited. Carson took us there. Nick took us Over The Top like, Lincoln Hawk.

I expect more from this team, Carson and Doug though. I sense a large fissure beginning to open b/w management and the coach. This season is going to be very telling for Howie and Doug. 

[Cochis_Calhoun]

I'll never forget the feeling of watching us win the Superbowl and Doug will always have that in the pros column, but I am mightily fed up of how we've gone backwards since, if we weren't in the worst division in football we wouldn't have made the playoffs since, at the moment we look a country mile away from a team like KC.

We got the QB, won the big dance and I thought we'd be like Seattle under Carroll, churn out 10 win seasons without really trying and contend for play offs every year. Instead we've spent the post Superbowl era praising the GM for Cap Championships again, while playing .500 ball in a terrible division.

If this season is 8-8 or worse, either Doug, Howie or both need to be gone, if it was one bad season I'd feel differently but we haven't been good since '17.

[Swimm]

2018 wasn't bad.  If it wasn't for that Bum Alshon Jeffrey  dropping an easy catch they very well could have had back to back Superbowl wins. 

[greend]

14-14 with the most injuries in the league that has seemed to continue into this year and a lot of you are crying like little bishes. We're from Philly we whine.

[YubaEagle]

This season looks like the Eagles traded in their Tiffany hand-cut crystal lightning-catching bottle for an old Gatorade bottle somebody used on a road trip, so they didn't have to stop at a rest stop.

[eagle45]

The answer to the question is an undeniable yes.

That SB was earned.  The 2017 Eagles were a DOMINANT team...even if the individual names on paper did not seem that incredible.  They won 13 games, almost all of them very easily.  They were probably fewer than 10 plays away from a damn undefeated season.  They obliterated an outstanding SB worthy Vikings team with their backup QB.  Then they beat a dynasty in the SB.

That wasn't just some fluke.  They were incredible.

But yes...that year was an anomaly.  It is surrounded by a team that flirts with .500 football.  That's what they were before, that's what they've been after, and that's certainly what their future looks like.