The Philadelphia Eagles are celebrating their first Super Bowl victory, with the city hosting a victory parade on Thursday. People have already been celebrating for hours in advance, and a friend of mine taking the train this morning from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia said they were out of beer at 8 a.m. It’s going to be a wild day.
It is not at all surprising to see media starting to declare this the dawn of the next NFL dynasty. The Eagles return much of their core, and having one a Super Bowl with Nick Foles at the helm, the quarterback position is in pretty great shape once Carson Wentz returns. Along with Wentz, they return the likes of Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, Zach Ertz, Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, and Nelson Agholor, among others. They might lose offensive coordinator Frank Reich to the Indianapolis Colts, but Doug Pederson suddenly has a lot more street cred than he did a year ago.
Early Super Bowl odds are already out, and they are among the favorites, although not the clear favorite. The New England Patriots are getting top-billing, but the Eagles remain the top favorite among NFC teams.
The NFC East has turned into a bit of a mess. The New York Giants may or may not be going into the rebuilding process. The Dallas Cowboys have Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, but will need more from their offensive line and defensive in 2018. Washington decided to switch from Kirk Cousins to Alex Smith, and while that offers a clear answer for 2018, not much is known beyond that.
The playoffs are tricky, with one bad day costing a team a chance at a Super Bowl. And of course, Jimmy Garoppolo will be in their way come playoff time! But for the time being, is there any reason to think they won’t be able to take home the NFC East crown for much of the foreseeable future?