Philly Front Office

[Updated: Never write tired from celebrating your team winning the Super Bowl]

Seven years ago, we witnessed the greatest game ever played. It took everything and every second. The last play, the final throw, that ball hit the ground, and not a second sooner could we finally say we were Super Bowl Champions. We went too crazy and the emotions were too raw to really appreciate what had happened. Last night was completely different. WE BEAT. THEIR. ASSES. No anxiety at the end of this one. Even our biggest pessimists knew it was over when Jalen hit “The Dagger” in the endzone to DeVonta. There was still more than 17 minutes left to play! We could enjoy this one.

Super Bowl 52 was for me, for you, for all of us, the fans, the life-longs, the die-hards. Not this one. This one was for all the guys on this team who needed this, who deserved this, for the coach on the hot seat, for the maligned defense, for the star-crossed playmakers, and most of all for the QB…

This is probably just the unbridled Eagles confidence talking, but for years I’ve felt about Jalen Hurts the way Dorothy Boyd feels about Jerry McGuire: “I love him! I love him for the man he wants to be. And I love him for the man he almost is.” We all saw what he did in the Super Bowl two years ago, and it was like everyone just forgot. Every single week he would win and be questioned about not winning better or winning in a different way. I know he doesn’t need the validation from others, but I needed it for him. How could they continue to say these terrible things about him when we all saw what he could do? I believed in him.

Steven Ruiz of the Ringer ranks QBs every week and 17th was his average ranking for Jalen. That weekly clown column is the most succinct way of summing up the bullshit this man has had to deal with. “Good football player, average QB.” People downplay the line “all he does is win” like it’s some sort of derogatory joke; an excuse for someone you can’t otherwise compliment. Well, what’s the joke now? That bullshit list is littered with guys who can’t do what Jalen just did for the second time. In fact, over the last two years his record against the top 10 of that list is 11-1. Hey Steve, next year when you are tripping over yourself trying to find the right words and the cherry-picked stats to tell us how great Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence are before they miss the playoffs, make sure you spell his name right: SUPER BOWL MVP JALEN HURTS.

Never has an athlete needed a championship to validate his greatness as much as Jalen Hurts did last night. It’s the difference between being considered a fraud and being a legend. No one can ever take this away from him. I wanted this for Jalen Hurts more than anyone. I knew he could do it.

Truth be told, I did not think Nick Sirianni could do it. He was about to be run out of town earlier this season if not sooner. It didn’t happen during the bye week, but had we lost to Cleveland in Week 6, he was good as gone. It probably should have happened after last year’s collapse. Captains go down with ships. He didn’t though, they gave him a second chance. Now he’s a top coach in the league. You laugh (AJ voice), but Nick can do one specific thing better than anyone. He adapts. In his first 2 seasons, Nick’s best feature was his ability to put his ego behind aside and listen to suggestions. At some point he lost that, and he didn’t get it back until the bye week this year. Once he started listening again, everything turned around. His players know it and love him for it. So now when people ask, “What is it you say you do here?” he can tell them he does whatever he has to do. I was wrong about Nick and I’ve never been more happy to admit that.

All PHLY was trying to name this defense on their podcast. It’s Uncle Vic and the Boys and I won’t hear otherwise. The Eagles were such a mess on defense last year that they legitimately thought Matt Patricia would make it better. WTF?!? In comes Vic Fangio, Quinyon Mitchell, and Cooper DeJean and everything changed. We went from the worst defense in the league to the best with only these two rookies and CJGJ as changes. Q may be the best cover corner in the league by next season and last night DeJean had his first career interception…for a TD…against Pat Mahomes…in the Super Bowl…on his birthday. Uncle Vic is the story though. He took all of the talent on this defense and trained it into the thoroughbreds we all saw ruin the Chiefs. This defense is young, cheap, mean, and still getting better. No one is going anywhere. Look the fuck out.

Let’s talk about Howie and the Philly Bulldogs he brought in. One year before Super Bowl 57, we all watched the Georgia defense run roughshod on the SEC on their way to the National Championship. Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, and Jordan Davis were living in the backfield while Nakobe Dean was basically everywhere else. What a unit. How cool would it be if the Eagles could get just one of these guys? Well Howie Roseman decided to get ALL of these guys (and Kelee Ringo and Lewis Cine too for good measure). For years we didn’t draft out of the SEC and in one night it seemed like Howie realized that reassembling the best college defense in years was a pretty damn good idea.

Then it didn’t work! Who wasn’t sick of these guys at the end of last season? Dean couldn’t stay on the field, Smith was a total bust, Davis was out of shape, and Carter was all potential with none of the discipline. Howie looked like he completely wiffed on this whole Georgia plan. Even into the preseason this year, Nolan Smith still looked like a wasted first round pick. Then it all came together. Carter is a future DPOY, Smith is the most improved player over the course of a season we’ve ever seen, Davis just showed out in the playoffs, and Dean once again sits on his throne as the captain of the best defense. Howie did a lot of things to make this roster what it is, but it all started with betting big on the Bulldogs.

Let’s not forget that Howie also bet big on Saquan Barkley. It seems weird to call this a gamble, but he had to sit through 5 mostly underperforming seasons in NY. It wasn’t his fault the Giants picked a running back at #2 when they needed literally everything else. It wasn’t his fault that he was the only bright spot in an otherwise completely inept organization. And it wasn’t his fault that the Giants completely mismanaged his contract negotiations. It was basically like some a-hole rich kid who buys a Ferrari and has no idea that he has to take care of it. Instead of wasting away though, Howie made him an offer and promised him a better life. He came to a team that knew how to use him and an offensive line that took care of him…and he turned in one of the best seasons anyone has ever seen.

With Saquan crushing it, it meant less opportunities for the wide receivers. Oh no, AJ Brown will not be happy! It’s ridiculous that if he even looks at someone without a smile the media has their twitter fingers ready to call him a diva and drop the disruptive stereotype on him. They never mention that AJ has NEVER thrown anyone under the bus, NEVER promoted himself over the team, NEVER demanded a new contract, and NEVER held out. It’s just lazy to compare him to Terrell Owens or the quitter down in Miami. AJ cares about the team and winning and that’s it. You can’t say that about any of those other guys.

Of course, AJ can always look over to the guy next to him if he ever needs to brush up on his professionalism. DeVonta Smith would be a #1 receiver on almost any offense, but that’s not something that concerns him. It also misses the point of what he brings to this team. He may be slight of frame, but he’s the guy who sets the tone, the guy that leads, the guy who no one ever questions. The Giants didn’t just miss out on a top receiver in the 2021 draft, they missed out on a culture setter. He’s chirping at guys, celebrating with his fellow WRs, and is the best teammate possible all while professionally leading by example and ALWAYS coming down with the ball. That TD last night was an absolute dagger by the quiet killer.

It’s good to see guys like DeVonta leading the way now because three of our best are almost out the door. Brandon Graham just played his final game (probably). This final win may have just cemented him as the greatest Eagle of all time, and definitely the one with the best story. Of course, Lane Johnson might be able to top him on that greatest Eagle list. Both have not one but two Super Bowls. No one other than Jake Elliot and Rick Lovato can say that. Thankfully it looks like Lane has one or two more years left in him. Then there’s Big Play Slay. By all accounts, he is a great teammate and hilarious…but I was ready to punt him into the sun when he went on Micah Parsons web show earlier in the year. I don’t know how he salvaged his reputation after that, but he did. He says he has one more season and wants it to be with the Birds. I think we are all okay with that.

Someone who might not have one more season in Philly is Mekhi Becton. What a great redemption story he has. I don’t know exactly what happened with the Jets, but I do know that usually when the Jets are involved, it’s the Jets fault. You could see the genuine happiness on this man’s face as this season unfolded. Not only did he get a second chance in a league far too withholding of such opportunities, but he succeeded. With making the playoffs and each subsequent win you could tell it meant something more to him, someone who never thought he would ever be in this position.

Two guys who definitely never thought they would be in this position are former Saints CJ Cardner Johnson and Zack Baun. New Orleans drafted these two in 2019 and 2020 respectively but eventually wanted nothing to do with either of them. CJGJ was at least traded for originally, but Baun was left out in the cold. I’ve said it before that CJGJ changed the tone of this team the two years he was here, and Baun is now indispensable as a DPOY candidate. They are not just wanted in Philly but needed too. In what had to be the most satisfying irony of the Super Bowl, both got to return to the city that drafted them to win the championship. It had to feel like seeing an ex after you are happily married and much better off.

Have you ever thought about what it must be like for Jordan Mailata? Imagine you are so big that everyone stares at you when you enter a room no matter what. Take that and imagine you are going halfway across the world and away from everyone you know and love to a new country to do something you have never done before. The people who are telling you to do this assure you that it will be incredibly hard and against all odds to succeed. Just to make matters worse, you have to do all of this in front of the most intense lunatics possible. What are the odds you’d be able to make it? How about the odds of becoming the best goddamn player in the world at it? We do not appreciate this man enough.

Though not as crazy as Mailata, Cam Jurgens is facing his own set of unreasonably strange circumstances on this offensive line. It’s not supposed to be that way either. He plays a position that almost no one in the country cares about except in exactly one city. Unfortunately for him, that one city is Philadelphia. Even more unfortunate, he just happens to be replacing that city’s most beloved player EVER. Jason Kelce was a hero on the field and even more beloved off it, those are some big shoes to fill. Although he proved himself last week, after a Super Bowl win and his own brand of beef jerky, I think he is going to be just fine.

It would be wrong not to mention two guys you never thought would win us that game: Avonte Maddox and Jahan Dotson. To win a championship, everyone has to be ready. Maddox was cut, brought back, and then benched. Dotson just couldn’t get the ball in a crowded offense. Still, Maddox had the play of his life on 4th down in the 3rd quarter that completely killed the Chiefs spirits. Dotson was , and I can’t stress enough how important this is, absolutely not Quez Watkins. Two years ago that pass that Dotson caught in the first quarter was dropped by out old WR3. Good riddance. Avonte, Jahan…you boys earned your rings as much as everyone else last night.

Then there’s Josh Sweat and Milton Williams. Sweat was almost cut last year and would have deserved it. Williams was solid all season but was basically an afterthought for years behind the Georgia guys. They both played the game of their lives last night. Neither will likely be back next season, but their constant pressure on Mahomes won this game and we’ll never forget it.

I want to finish with Landon Dickerson and Jalen Carter. When all-time Eagles Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox retired after last season, they left leadership voids on both lines. No one really knew what would happen. Carter and Dickerson not only stepped in to fill that void, they filled it with a completely new attitude. From the speeches to their play, Carter and Dickerson made it clear that what happened against the 49ers last season would never happen again. They would be the bullies. Do you think Mahomes wanted to get up last night after he fumbled and Carter knocked him the fuck out? How about Dickerson telling the team to choose violence before playing the Steelers or to make it a nightmare for the Packers in the playoffs? These two along with CJGJ made this team believe they were the unstoppable force they showed off last night. They proved it too. Jalen Carter SAVED this season the last two plays against the Rams in the snow. Without him, we lose. Against Washington, Dickerson was forced to play center then played a whole quarter on a gimpy leg. For all the talk of Jalen and Nick needing this win, these two made it possible.

For Jalen, for Nick, for Uncle Vic and the Boys, for Howie, for the Philly Bulldogs, for the professional receivers, for the guys about to leave, and for the new leaders. Thank you. This one’s for you. You deserved it.