For the 7th time in 8 years, the Philadelphia Eagles are in the Playoffs

I know. It's what we expected. If this season resulted in anything other than a Playoff appearance, people would've been fired, buildings up in flames, the Novacare Complex torn down, etc. But take a step back and appreciate the era of Eagles greatness we're in the midst of right now (even if it involves winning a nail biter against Bryce Young's 3 win Panthers).

The Eagles have made the Playoffs 7 of the past 8 seasons. The 8 year stretch prior to that (2009-2016), the Eagles made the Playoffs just three times and won zero Playoff games. After the Eagles won Super Bowl 52, Head Coach Doug Pederson infamously told Eagles fans "this is the new norm."

With that, Doug had essentially promised us that a dynasty was in the making in South Philadelphia. Of course, that didn't happen at all. Carson Wentz was injured countless times and was never the same, the Eagles failed to find a replacement in the run game after LeGarrette Blount's departure, many players on the defense regressed - we know all that. Certainly don't need to revisit it.

But, Doug Pederson wasn't wrong. He was actually right - just not in the way he meant it. Ever since the Eagles Super Bowl win, this really has been the new norm in Philadelphia. It felt like the Eagles were an Alshon Jeffery dropped pass away from a return to the Super Bowl the following season, a disappointing - but Playoff worthy - 2019 season ended in uncertainty at the quarterback position, leading to a rebuilding/retooling year in 2020 - the only one in the past 8 years that didn't result in a Playoff appearance, of course - an immediate return to Playoff football in 2021, a Super Bowl appearance in 2022, and another Playoff appearance in 2023. Now in 2024, after a confusing ending to the previous season, the Eagles are back in the Playoffs and currently hold an 11-2 record. Not bad.

And who has been at the center of it all? Of course, none of this would be possible without the contributions of Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, Lane Johnson, Jalen Carter, or, of course, Saquon Barkley this season, but there's been one guy who is always there. Yep, you know who. You don't want to admit it. But it's the guy who has now made the Playoffs all four years of his coaching career. The guy who went to a Super Bowl in his second season. The guy who is now 45-19 in his head coaching career, the fifth best winning percentage (.703) in NFL history.

Nick Sirianni.

Yep. And you don't want to admit it. If you're reading this, you're probably an Eagles fan, which means there's about a 98% you can't stand Nick Sirianni and call for him to be fired every Sunday. You won't admit that this man just wins. You may not like him, but the results don't lie.

It's one of those things that you don't know how good you got it, until it's gone. To the point I was making earlier, the Eagles stunk from '09-'16. All of a sudden, we're getting cocky again and not remembering how quickly this can all go away. Nick Sirianni's teams are always contenders. We didn't always have that. Appreciate Nick while he is here.

And, of course, it took 13 games but it was inevitable: AJ Brown is complaining about not getting the ball. The offense is out of sync. Nobody knows what is going on. They're collapsing again. It's last season all over again. Where do we go from here?

Relax.

That's where we go from here. It's not the same as last year. This team has Saquon Barkley - who is in the midst of the greatest season an Eagles running back has ever had. This team has two stud rookie cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. This team has an All-Pro linebacker in Zack Baun and probably the best LB duo in the league when you combine him with Nakobe Dean. The offensive line hasn't lost a single step despite Jason Kelce's retirement. Everything is going to be okay. You're panicking after one bad win against the Panthers?

I'm not sure Aaron Rodgers is the best guy to take advice from these days, but he was absolutely right with this quote 10 years ago. Appreciate this brilliant era of Eagles football. It won't be here for long. On top of that, the Eagles have a very legitimate chance at finishing the job this year, getting back to the Super Bowl, and winning in New Orleans. Just relax.