The Philadelphia Eagles were about to collapse.
They were also on the verge of being one of the best teams in the NFL – again.
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After a disastrous end to the team’s 2023 campaign which ended with Jason Kelce tearfully, the Eagles started a new season 2-2 and entered an early bye week dealing a lopsided 33-16 road loss to Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Then Nick Sirianni, the embattled Philadelphia head coach, spooked Philly coming out of the layoff with a shaved head.
“He’s going to need a new job soon,” one fan tweeted.
“Went with the Britney Spears look,” wrote another fan. “We’re so cooked.”
“Nah, it’s over,” wrote a third fan.
What followed was classic Sirianni-era Eagles.
A loaded team with Jealousy hurtsMVP candidate Saquon BarkleyAJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Quinyon MitchellJalen Carter and Darius Slay Jr. won their next 10 games to turn a flat 2-2 into a buzzing 12-2.
NFL fans were reminded that Philly almost beat Kansas City Super Bowl 2022, while the Eagles pushed all their internal tension and drama aside — until it resurfaced when Brown appeared to take shots on Hurts and the team’s passing game.
“I’m from Philadelphia. I’m living here in Philadelphia again now, so I get it,” NFL Network front office analyst Marc Ross told talkSPORT exclusively.
“You know all my former players that I drafted are on sports radio here, the Hugh Douglass and Ike Reese of the world. So I always love listening to them.
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“So I get to take it from a national guy, just laugh at all the dysfunction and outrage of my Philadelphia fan base here that’s just totally wow.
“At one point, the Sirianni ‘head shaving scandal’ — I mean, it was just insane. And, ‘Get this guy out of here.’
“And then suddenly they just kept winning and winning, looking better and better and better.”
Falling for abuse Green Bay Packers squad in an NFC Wild Card playoff match on Sunday will immediately bring back all the old tension and drama.
Taking care of business against the Pack and moving two wins away from a Super Bowl return will have the Philly faithful believing that another World Series trophy isn’t too far away.
Most NFL teams would have imploded after getting blown out 32-9 in a playoff game to end a season, then starting another campaign by underperforming despite All-Pro talent.
Philly is a special place, and it brought out the best in the 2024 Eagles as they enter another playoff test.
“It’s a testament that, despite the craziness on the outside, they’re a stable organization with (owner) Jeffrey Lurie,” Ross said.
“I started with the team. I worked for the Eagles starting in 1997. And he bought the team and figured out how to be one of those owners to give your input, but you know, stay out of the way.
“And Howie Roseman has been there a long time — the GM, he knows what he’s doing. So they have that stability to absorb all the craziness.
“And then they have all that talent to take it while they’re figuring it out. So, of course, they’re going to be dangerous. They were just in the Super Bowl two years ago. They were on the road the year before. They fell apart due to the chaos behind the scenes that happened.
“A lot happened there. You know, firing both coordinators. So they had a lot of change in the chaos. But now going into it, they’re thinking, ‘This is our chance.’”
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