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Philadelphia Eagles: 5 Reasons they’ll make the playoffs in 2018

By Carl Naimoli

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Jeffrey Lurie owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and head coach Doug Pederson celebrate their teams 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Jeffrey Lurie owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and head coach Doug Pederson celebrate their teams 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MD – OCTOBER 16: Running back Darren Sproles #43 of the Philadelphia Eagles carries the ball past outside linebacker Preston Smith #94 of the Washington Redskins in the fourth quarter at FedExField on October 16, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD – OCTOBER 16: Running back Darren Sproles #43 of the Philadelphia Eagles carries the ball past outside linebacker Preston Smith #94 of the Washington Redskins in the fourth quarter at FedExField on October 16, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

4. Injured Players Returning

Every team in the NFL has to deal with injuries, it’s a part of the game. When key contributors go down it can derail an entire team’s season. When both Aaron Rodgers and Dehaun Watson went down with injuries their teams suffered. Both the Packers and Texans spiraled without their starting quarterbacks.

That wasn’t the same for the Eagles. They lost their superstar signal-caller Carson Wentz and didn’t skip a beat. It wasn’t just Wentz who went down. The Eagles also lost their starting middle linebacker Jordan Hicks and their All-Pro left tackle Jason Peters. Losing starters at those three positions alone are enough to demoralize a team. Add in multi-faceted running back Darren Sproles and the Eagles injured reserve was looking like an All-Star team in the making.

All those players are back this year and ready to play, optimistically there is a chance that Wentz could even be ready to start Week 1. The Eagles won a Super Bowl without even having their star players for the playoffs, imagine what this team can do when healthy.

Obviously it is impossible for a team to be 100 percent injury-free throughout the entire season, but as long as the stars stay on the field they’ll be in good shape. At this point the only injury of note is Alshon Jeffery. He is expected to miss 2-3 weeks, which isn’t too bad. With a healthy roster the Eagles will be a force to be reckoned with.

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