EDITOR’S NOTE: I must have been thinking about Kyle Tucker because I kept saying Tucker instead of Jonathan Taylor in the first version of this.
I’ve been hearing a lot about how the Eagles offense “just isn’t good enough.” I get it. I’m not saying that the offense has been fine or anything, far from it, but the idea that it isn’t good enough just doesn’t make sense to me. With home wins over the Rams and Lions plus the Chiefs, Bucs, and Packers on the road, the offense very clearly is good enough. Again, it is nowhere close to where it could and should be, but who could you say would be favored over the Eagles right now? Let’s take a look at the teams with the best records:
Honorable Mention: Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs
The Eagles have beaten both these teams already this year and both are a game out of the playoff picture. Detroit had been waiting as some sort of Boogieman for the last year because they never got their shot in the NFC Championship Game. Then Monday happened. Despite this being their Super Bowl and being the #1 offense in the league, they were wiped off the map. The Eagles defense handled the Lions’ offense so soundly that they would have to start over completely if we ever played again. It was a total demolition.
The way the Eagles handled Detroit was the best defensive performance I’ve seen since…well, the Super Bowl against the Chiefs. Vic Fangio seems to understand what the Chiefs want to do and has all the weapons to defend it. This Chiefs team isn’t as good as last year’s team while the Eagles defense might be even better.
Chicago Bears
The Bears are a surprising 7-3 and tops in the NFC North. They certainly have to be relieved that Caleb Williams isn’t considered a bust anymore, but he also isn’t exactly showing out either. So far the Bears have had exactly two difficult games on their schedule (the Lions and Ravens with Lamar Jackson) and got their junk kicked in in both of them. Six of their seven wins have been by 1 score and all against very bad teams. Look, I am very happy for Bears fans (I actually know one!), but take this for what it is, a solid building block of a season thanks to an incredibly easy schedule. The Bears travel to Philadelphia on Black Friday, so hopefully I don’t eat my words.
Buffalo Bills
It has been an up and down season for Josh Allen and the Bills to say the least. After an opening week come back and three wins against the very worst in the league, they finally looked like the team of destiny everyone always wants them to be. Then they completely forgot how to play football against New England and Atlanta. All looked to be right again after thrashing the Panthers and beating the Chiefs (regular season warning), but then they were manhandled by the Dolphins! After handling the Bucs, I don’t know what to think. Their date with New England on 12/14 will tell us a lot, probably more so than the 12/28 meeting with the Eagles in which both teams may not have anything to play for.
Seattle Seahawks
How are we supposed to take last week’s loss to the Rams? Is it good or bad that they had a chance to win despite Sam Darnold throwing 4 picks? I’m sorry to say, it’s bad. I have been trumpeting the overall talent of Seattle since the offseason, but the positivity of rolling the dice with Darnold took a nosedive on Sunday. When the going gets tough, Sam Darnold does not get going. They are now 7-3 with losses to the only 3 good teams they’ve played (Jacksonville is not a good team). If your QB can’t play well enough to beat any good teams, it doesn’t matter how good everyone else is.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have the league MVP so far in Jonathan Taylor. If Saquon Barkley deserved the award last year (and he did), then it is pretty clear Taylor deserves it right now. The Colts have been a great story, but other than Taylor there is no one on this team that scares you. Daniel Jones has been a great story, but he also isn’t striking fear into the hearts of a good defense. Over the last 3 weeks, Jones has been sacked 15 times after staying relatively upright through the first 7 games. He is going to see a ton of blitz packages and he does not have the ability to handle that.
Los Angeles Rams
Same question to the Seahawks now to the Rams. Is it good that they picked off Darnold 4 times or bad that despite that they only escaped with a win via missed field goal? I have to think they feel pretty good. The Rams have good young talent on both sides of the ball and a QB that isn’t afraid. Coming out of game against a great defense with a win is all the matters. It also will help them if and when they face the Eagles again. Granted they already lost to the Eagles once, but it was a great game. People forget the snow game last year came down to two great defensive plays by Jalen Carter or we could have lost. This is the 2nd best team in the league and easily the biggest threat to the Birds in the NFC. It could come down to home field advantage and health.
New England Patriots
I got a lot of flack online for questioning the MVP case of Drake Maye. Honestly, those people were right to get on me. The Patriots have played an incredibly easy schedule including facing the Bills in one of their “what’s a football?” weeks, but Maye hasn’t screwed up yet. Basically, I didn’t consider how little everyone else deserves the award right now. For me the top 3 are Taylor, Hurts, and Maye.1 Yes, they lost to the Raiders and Steelers and have faced everyone on this week’s Tank Rank except the Giants, but they just aren’t doing anything wrong. But am I afraid of them as an Eagles fan? Not even a little bit. Not messing up is great, but there is nothing making them special either.
Denver Broncos
I finish with the team in which I have the most anger. It’s not the Broncos fault that I hate them, and I never complain about officiating, but the gifts that were given in the 4th quarter of our Week 5 matchup were the most blatantly one sided I’ve ever seen. The Broncos were given 14 points, a free pass to maul Dallas Goedert, and all our positive plays were disallowed. There was simply nothing the Eagles could have done to win that game. Yes, I know this is loser shit.
That being said, the Broncos have found ways to win games this season. They are 7-2 in one score games including winning 5 games by 3 points or less. That is some serendipitous magic, but also what got Washington finally creamed at the end of 2024. Considering they are the only legitimate team to beat us, I have nothing to say other than I want revenge that I probably won’t get. Of course, in a weak AFC it is completely possible.
The defense of Denver is legit. Even without Patrick Surtain they haven’t missed a beat. Surtain will be back for the end of the season btw. The offense is simply nothing special though. Nix is having an okay 2nd season, but for the amount he is throwing (leads league in attempts) he isn’t producing very much. Can he be a game manager on an elite defense? That’s what the playoffs will tell us.
Philadelphia Eagles
The eagles have played an incredibly difficult schedule and have met every challenge in the NFC (fucking Denver). Some of these teams haven’t defeated any good competition while the Eagles have defeated ALL good competition. We hold them to a very high standard because we don’t just want to be good, we want to be great. We want this to be a dynasty, not just a 1-championship group like so many others. It is right there too. We all know it. All the offense needs to do is click a little bit and this thing is OVER. No other team is that close. Until it is though, we will have to settle with being just a little better than the rest of these teams.
- For those thinking that’s a homer pick for Hurts, he’s basically done the same thing as Maye but against far superior competition. ↩︎
Philly Front Office 
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