NFL fans will soon get to see a glimpse of the best of their league, but a lot of people will be watching on Sunday in Philadelphia, too.
Here’s a look at what the Eagles accomplished this preseason.1.
Winning in the postseason is what mattersMost of the hype surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles came in Week 3, when they were the last team to clinch a playoff spot with a victory over the Arizona Cardinals in their first game in the NFC playoffs.
That was also when they went on to lose their first two games of the season.
But in the end, they still made the playoffs.
They were a team that won’t be the last one to do it, either.
This season, the Eagles have a lot to be proud of, even if they did stumble in the final weeks of the regular season.
In fact, the way they handled themselves after their Week 1 win over the Steelers is the way most teams would handle things during a playoff race.
They’re still a playoff team.
They still made it.
But they also have to start to win games again.
This is the first time since 2009 that the Eagles haven’t lost in their opening four games, including a 24-21 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
That’s impressive.
The team’s win streak also stands at five games.
But the team’s offensive line and secondary struggled throughout the season, which may have contributed to their lack of production.
The Eagles defense was solid again, too, finishing with an overall rating of +18.4, the fifth-best mark in the NFL.
Their special teams were solid again as well, finishing fifth in points allowed with 24.1, with the offense scoring the most points (1,988) and yards (3,979) in the league.
And they had the best season in terms of passing yards allowed by any team, as the Eagles allowed just 1,817 passing yards in the regular and postseason.
That tied for third-most in the game.
That could have been better, of course.
The Eagles defense has been a mess for the past year and a half.
They have had a lot going for it, but their struggles this preseason are why they might have to go through it a lot more.2.
They will win their division, tooThis is a tough one.
There’s not much room for optimism about the Eagles division race going into Sunday.
They finished fifth in the AFC West, which is where they finished last season, and they’re currently in the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
They also finished third last season and they finished fifth last year.
This season, they’re one of four teams to win their respective divisions, which means they will finish in the top three of their division and in a tie for first in the conference.
That will give them plenty of chances to win a division title.
The biggest thing that could get the Eagles to that point is if the team continues to win.
That seems unlikely, as they were 3-6 in their final nine regular-season games.
That also didn’t include a 5-0 record against the division leaders, the Denver Broncos.
But it doesn’t mean the Eagles are destined to go into Sunday having won every game they play this season.
They’re also going to have to win on the road, which might not be so easy.
They haven’t won at home since their Week 6 loss to New England.
The only time they won their final game on the west coast was a 30-23 victory over Green Bay in Week 13.
But the Eagles defense should still be capable of stopping the run.
They surrendered just 38 rushing yards per game during that stretch, but it was due to a porous offensive line.
That has changed.
They allowed just 15 rushing yards on 30 carries (4.6 yards per carry).
It was an impressive performance from a team without a true running back.3.
They’ll be the No. 1 team in the EastWhen the Eagles took the field in their season opener against the Miami Dolphins, they were a little bit of a mystery.
They looked like a team ready to make a run at a playoff berth.
But they haven’t been quite that way since.
They’ve lost their first four games in the division, including their Week 3 loss to Jacksonville.
The reason for that is a lack of offensive talent, particularly in the secondary.
And they haven: They’ve allowed the most yards per play (4,842) of any team in that division.
This is a lot different than last year, when the Eagles ranked second in the nation with a +20.6 pass-defense rating.
They rank just 20th this season with a -6.8 pass-defending rating.
They were also the only team in last year’s division to allow a touchdown pass in the first half of the game, which makes it hard to believe they can get back to that level this year.
That makes it even tougher to see the Eagles going