Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl LX Pathway: How Do the Eagles Repeat as Super Bowl Champions?
The Reigning Defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles are back in the playoffs as the 3-seed in the playoffs. The Eagles are in a great spot to have that opportunity to repeat, even though the team has been struggling at times on the offensive side of the ball this season. These Eagles have the pieces and the pedigree to run through their pathway to Santa Clara in February. Speaking of the pathway of the Philadelphia Eagles, let us dive into the pathway in full detail, starting with the matchup vs the 49ers on Sunday.
The Impending Threat: San Francisco 49ers
The first test is in fact the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at home in the Linc in a rematch of the 2022 NFC Championship. The Eagles are the healthier team and, to be honest, the better team at the moment, right now, even though the 49ers won one more game than they did in the regular season. The 49ers do have a great offense when healthy, but the thing to keep an eye on first and foremost is the injuries to Trent Williams and Ricky Pearsall.
If those two guys don’t suit up, they’ll try to force-feed Christian McCaffery a lot of the time in both the run game and the pass game to get the ball out of the hands of Brock Purdy quickly to avoid the pass rush.
The worry after the Eagles lost to the Commanders last week was that they lost the two seed by playing their backups, but this matchup is just as good as the Packers matchup would’ve been, plus the Packers vs Bears NFC North Rivalry is one of those unpredictable games of Wild Card Weekend because of the rivalry aspect. Even though the Packers are unhealthy in their own right, they’ll still give Chicago a hard fight and could knock them out of the playoffs.
The Toughest Opponent in Divisional Round Possible: Los Angeles Rams
Yes, this matchup would be at home for Philadelphia, unlike the more likely matchup of traveling to Soldier Field vs the Bears. But the Rams would be the tougher matchup because the game earlier this season was fully in Rams control until they let go of the rope in the second half, and the Eagles honestly stole that game.
So the Rams are going to be a problem for Philadelphia, especially if the offense plays as they did in the first half of that game in Week 3, especially if you watched that game in full like I did. Don’t get me wrong, the Bears game would also be tough because of the Black Friday Game tape, plus the January weather in Chicago is always a problem. So I will be watching the Wild Card closely this weekend to see what the possible Divisional Matchups could be.
Jalen Hurts’ Playoff Mode Is The Key
Hurts has elevated his level in both Super Bowl runs, especially last season, rising to the occasion in New Orleans, being able to hoist that Lombardi Trophy, and bringing it back to Broad Street. The Eagles quarterback was asked by the media on Wednesday about his ability to elevate his performance in high-stakes games. Hurts gave the most cold-blooded answer possible to that question.
“Some things are in you,” Hurts said. “Every year is different, but it’s always the same goal, and if you don’t have that mentality, then you’re not in the right place ultimately.”
Here is a look at the full clip below from X.
That’s the answer that perfectly describes Hurts’ mentality to the point that he is no doubt the quarterback I want leading my team in the playoffs if I were a GM. Because that mentality is exactly the definition of that winner’s mentality that it takes to get the job done, and that mentality has been Hurts’ M.O. for years. The Eagles will go as far as this defense, but most importantly, Jalen Hurts will take them.
