Inquirer columnist David Murphy sums it up:  The Eagles have their most talented roster since 2017 - and since 2004 offensively - so anything less than the precipice of the Super Bowl will be considered a failure.  And it's make-or-break for Jalen Hurts.

10-7 is not a successful season. A wild-card win is not a successful season. The only reason the Eagles aren’t being mentioned among a small handful of Super Bowl favorites is the quarterback. The NFL is a bottom-line business, and the bottom line is how Hurts needs to be judged. If you believe he has what it takes to someday lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl, then you believe that the Eagles have what it takes to contend for one this year. The teams that get stuck in quarterback purgatory are often those who do not set the appropriate expectations. The talent on this roster makes it clear where the expectations for Hurts and the Eagles should lie.

https://www.inquirer.com/eagles/eagles-depth-chart-super-bowl-odds-jalen-hurts-20220520.html

Bad sign for the Eagles when the local reporters are calling for a SB or bust.  Eagles are improved, but they're not a SB team.

19 minutes ago, Procus said:

Bad sign for the Eagles when the local reporters are calling for a SB or bust.  Eagles are improved, but they're not a SB team.

Why not? Seriously. If you had asked me a few months ago I’d have agreed. But they’ve really made some major upgrades since then. 
 

Ignore QB for a minute, because that’s the point of the article. 
 

On offense, I don’t see a glaring weakness. Two legit starting WR plus Quez is fine as a slot. Line is legit. Goedert IMO is a top 5 TE. Sanders is a good RB. Pascal is solid depth at WR as well. 
 

On defense, the front 7 looks really, really good. The CB duo now that they signed Bradberry should be one of the better ones in the league, plus Maddox looked solid covering the slot last year. 
 

The only spot I would call a major glaring weakness is safety. Harris is fine… not particularly good, but not a total scrub. The second safety position is the definite biggest weakness. 
 

So… I don’t see any reason this roster couldn’t be a legitimate contender… other than the QB position. Which is the point of the article. Now, I think they took it a tad too far, because Hurts doesn’t have to get them to a SB to prove himself. But he does need to win at least a playoff game and look good as a passer while doing it. I’m skeptical of that happening, but the roster around him is absolutely capable of a deep playoff run IMO. 

2 hours ago, nipples said:

Why not? Seriously. If you had asked me a few months ago I’d have agreed. But they’ve really made some major upgrades since then. 
 

Ignore QB for a minute, because that’s the point of the article. 
 

On offense, I don’t see a glaring weakness. Two legit starting WR plus Quez is fine as a slot. Line is legit. Goedert IMO is a top 5 TE. Sanders is a good RB. Pascal is solid depth at WR as well. 
 

On defense, the front 7 looks really, really good. The CB duo now that they signed Bradberry should be one of the better ones in the league, plus Maddox looked solid covering the slot last year. 
 

The only spot I would call a major glaring weakness is safety. Harris is fine… not particularly good, but not a total scrub. The second safety position is the definite biggest weakness. 
 

So… I don’t see any reason this roster couldn’t be a legitimate contender… other than the QB position. Which is the point of the article. Now, I think they took it a tad too far, because Hurts doesn’t have to get them to a SB to prove himself. But he does need to win at least a playoff game and look good as a passer while doing it. I’m skeptical of that happening, but the roster around him is absolutely capable of a deep playoff run IMO. 

If he can't get it done on that end, I have no problem with a mid-season switch at QB.  I hear BDN is a free agent at the moment.

Talented roster or not, this concept is asinine.  Injuries change things.  The play of other players makes a difference.  Coaching and gameplanning matters.  And there are other teams that are good too.  There's no such thing as a "Dream Team" in the NFL, and those that think they are one tend to fail.  Even if it did work, this team isn't that.  While a couple of the guys we've added are top-shelf players, others are more in the "decent but not elite" category.  And while we're all excited about our draft class, those guys are still rooks.  Expecting/demanding a Super Bowl is stupid, and so is this article.

11-13 wins would be a more reasonable hope.  (Not an expectation or a demand.  A hope.)  Hoping for the Division title would able be a reasonable hope.  We should be contenders there.  (Not overwhelming favorites.  Just contenders.)  Hoping for a playoff win would also be reasonable.

With all of that, it is not only on Hurts.  Yes, we should see noticeable improvement in his play.  And if we don't, I'll be more than ready to move on.  I hated the pick, and I'm still not a fan.  But the "It's all on Hurts" rhetoric is every bit as asinine as the Super Bowl expectation.  Maybe more.

I "feel it" myself when thinking about the Eagles' chances this year and I think they should be real contenders this year.  The moves they've made have been excellent.  All that said, I honestly hate when the media (especially National media) start banging the drum and building up expectations.  I think that affects players negatively in that they get overconfident and lose focus. It gives opponents' extra motivation as well.

I'd rather fly under the radar but that is impossible these days when teams make moves like the Eagles have done.

3 hours ago, nipples said:

The only spot I would call a major glaring weakness is safety. Harris is fine… not particularly good, but not a total scrub. The second safety position is the definite biggest weakness. 

Agree with the weakness at safety but for me Harris is the one to replace. I think Epps is our best safety right now.

3 hours ago, nipples said:

So… I don’t see any reason this roster couldn’t be a legitimate contender… other than the QB position. Which is the point of the article. Now, I think they took it a tad too far, because Hurts doesn’t have to get them to a SB to prove himself. But he does need to win at least a playoff game and look good as a passer while doing it. I’m skeptical of that happening, but the roster around him is absolutely capable of a deep playoff run IMO. 

Agreed. Doesn‘t have to win one this year but he needs a push in the playoffs or he‘s gone.

I like what we've done but I'm still skeptical on the defensive side. Safety is a huge question mark but we also didn't really address the DL either. Right now we're relying on a injured, returning Graham and hopefully Cox coming back to form. Barnett being a positive asset would be surprising. We have to hope that Hargrave returns to his beginning of season form as well as relying on JD contributing at a high level as a rookie. There's just a lot of variables currently. I really like our LB corps now and we have a great 1/2 at CB but if our DL can't get there, they're not going to look as good as they could.

Wow, the hype is just a little to much.  Lets pump the brakes.

Jalen Hurts has only beaten two teams with a winning record in his career, and those teams were QB'd by Taysom Hill and Trevor Simien.

Agreed. Put any above average QB on this team right now and we're talking about a deep playoff run. If Hurts doesn't become that, then bye.

Ridiculous article.

This team still has weaknesses. 

 

Hurts sucks

Murphy swallows

I don't think it's SB or bust. Offenses can suck and get carried by a defense and win a Lombardi

1 hour ago, ilikepargo said:

Talented roster or not, this concept is asinine.  Injuries change things.  The play of other players makes a difference.  Coaching and gameplanning matters.  And there are other teams that are good too.  There's no such thing as a "Dream Team" in the NFL, and those that think they are one tend to fail.  Even if it did work, this team isn't that.  While a couple of the guys we've added are top-shelf players, others are more in the "decent but not elite" category.  And while we're all excited about our draft class, those guys are still rooks.  Expecting/demanding a Super Bowl is stupid, and so is this article.

11-13 wins would be a more reasonable hope.  (Not an expectation or a demand.  A hope.)  Hoping for the Division title would able be a reasonable hope.  We should be contenders there.  (Not overwhelming favorites.  Just contenders.)  Hoping for a playoff win would also be reasonable.

With all of that, it is not only on Hurts.  Yes, we should see noticeable improvement in his play.  And if we don't, I'll be more than ready to move on.  I hated the pick, and I'm still not a fan.  But the "It's all on Hurts" rhetoric is every bit as asinine as the Super Bowl expectation.  Maybe more.

Perfectly put. This team is talented but has proven nothing yet. 

Can Gannon stop a good QB? He hasn’t been able to yet.
 

 

I assume we’ll pick up another safety prior to opening day. We have a weak schedule, which I think plays into the win projections.

Look, it should be a fun year to watch the team and the progress of the rebuilding effort and, hopefully, Hurts’ continued improvement. In addition, we can root for the Saints to lose so our draft capital improves. 

So if we go 11-6, win a couple playoff games and get punked by the LAR in the NFCCG… it’s a busted season?

4 minutes ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

So if we go 11-6, win a couple playoff games and get punked by the LAR in the NFCCG… it’s a busted season?

If Hurts gets us to there with his passing ability then no

8 hours ago, nipples said:

Ignore QB for a minute...

That's really the only length of time that we can afford to ignore the position. 

I hope Hurts turns out to be our future, or even our 'positive present', but I fear he's only going to be our 'transitional regret'. I really hope he proves my fears wrong and a Lombardi is in our very near future. 

44 minutes ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

So if we go 11-6, win a couple playoff games and get punked by the LAR in the NFCCG… it’s a busted season?

Getting to the NFCCG would be fun, having Hurts get us there with legit QB skills (all around QB skills), would be awesome. But losing the NFCCG? I've been there and done that too many times. I'd almost rather miss the playoffs than to get that close and fail. 

It's a fun ride while you're zooming along...

 

 

But hitting the bottom of the canyon hurts too badly when it ends.

 

You don't win championships in the offseason on paper.  We've had plenty of teams in the past with championship aspirations, hype about a talented roster, etc.  We have to see how it all comes together, how the coaches scheme and utilize it, some free agents and trades work out some don't, some draft picks are busts and some work out.  On paper it's been a good offseason but let's see what happens in September.  

Having said that, since they made the playoffs last year (albeit barely sneaking in and with the extra playoff team added) the expectation is to progress further which starts at minimum with winning a playoff game.  Winning a championship is very hard to do, but I think winning the division and a playoff game is a good realistic goal for this team.

 

1 hour ago, VaBeach_Eagle said:

Getting to the NFCCG would be fun, having Hurts get us there with legit QB skills (all around QB skills), would be awesome. But losing the NFCCG? I've been there and done that too many times. I'd almost rather miss the playoffs than to get that close and fail. 

It's a fun ride while you're zooming along...

 

 

But hitting the bottom of the canyon hurts too badly when it ends.

 

08 cut me deep. I had a friend over to watch the superbowl but I jus couldn't bear to watch the cards there when it shoulda been us

7 hours ago, Procus said:

If he can't get it done on that end, I have no problem with a mid-season switch at QB.  I hear BDN is a free agent at the moment.

Not any more … signing with the Colts.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/colts-working-to-sign-nick-foles-former-eagles-bears-qb-to-back-up-matt-ryan-per-report/

2 hours ago, time2rock said:

Not any more … signing with the Colts.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/colts-working-to-sign-nick-foles-former-eagles-bears-qb-to-back-up-matt-ryan-per-report/

Perfect fit for both Nick and the Colts 

Jalen Hurts has the people thinking Super Bowl. 

8 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Jalen Hurts has the people thinking Super Bowl.