Philadelphia Eagles: Do they have what it takes to repeat?
By Carl Naimoli
The Philadelphia Eagles are defending Super Bowl Champions, can they break the mold and win two in a row?
For the upcoming 2018 season, the Philadelphia Eagles will be the defending Super Bowl Champions for the first time in their storied history. Finally, the people of Philadelphia will be able to cheer for their team without having to worry if they’ll ever witness a championship in their lifetime.
But, since it’s common nature of a sports fan to get greedy, I’m sure most people are thinking: Can they bring another Lombardi Trophy back to South Philly?
To repeat as champions is something that doesn’t happen often in modern-day pro sports, especially in the NFL. Winning one Super Bowl is an incredible achievement on its own, but winning back-to-back will plant your name among the greatest teams of all time.
The fact of the matter is, nobody has repeated as Super Bowl Champions since the 2004 New England Patriots. Many teams have tried since, but all have failed. Most recently, the Patriots last year and the Seahawks in 2014 as both reached the ultimate game of the season, but couldn’t prevail.
Looking back at the history of the league, there have been less and less repeat champions as the league has evolved. Here is a list of all the repeat champions since the beginning of the Super Bowl era:
- 1966-67 Packers
- 1972-73 Dolphins
- 1974-75 Steelers
- 1978-79 Steelers
- 1988-89 49ers
- 1992-93 Cowboys
- 1997-98 Broncos
- 2003-04 Patriots
Through the first 33 years of the Super Bowl era, there were seven teams that were able to win in back-to-back seasons. In the 19 latter years, it has only occurred once.
While the Eagles are bringing back the core of their Super Bowl winning team and appear to be odds-on favorites out of the NFC, actually becoming champions again won’t be easy. To win another Super Bowl, the Eagles will have to ditch their beloved underdog masks and exchange them for targets on their backs.
First, the Eagles need to hope and pray that Carson Wentz comes back healthy. Even though Nick Foles had the performance of a lifetime to help win the Super Bowl, I doubt he will be able to lead this team to victory week-in and week-out the way Wentz did last year. The good news is that Foles seems perfectly content to go back to a reserve role, which will help eliminate any quarterback controversy.
With a healthy Wentz, the Eagles offense shouldn’t have any issues scoring. Alshon Jeffery should have an even better year since he is more accustomed to the offense. The running backs shouldn’t lose a beat with Jay Ajayi getting more reps and Corey Clement finding a larger role. To round out the offense, Zach Ertz should be one of the top tight ends in the league again this year.
In addition, the Eagles still have the best defensive line rotation in the NFL with Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Michael Bennett and Tim Jernigan, among others. The linebackers will be steady with Jordan Hicks and Nigel Bradham, and the secondary, led by Malcolm Jenkins, will be able to hold their own as well.
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Clearly the Eagles have the talent to repeat as champions, but then again, most every Super Bowl defending team returns the majority of their talent from the previous year. The question is: Do they have the will to fight to get back to the mountaintop? We’ll just have to wait and see.