Mike Sielski: It's the 2024 Eagles vs. the 2022 Eagles. Who ya got?

Mike Sielski, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan 30, 2025

Published in Football

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PHILADELPHIA — This has never happened before. The Eagles going to the Super Bowl? Yeah, that’s happened before. But going twice in a three-year span? Such a thing would have been too crazy to contemplate in earlier eras of the team’s history — in, say, the mid-1990s, when everybody was jazzed about a wild-card win over the Detroit Lions in which immortals such as Kurt Gouveia, Barry Wilburn, and Rob Carpenter played big roles.

This situation — two NFC championship teams two years apart, with so many shared elements, with such significant changes, facing the same opponent in the Kansas City Chiefs — also allows us to do something worthwhile ahead of Super Bowl LIX. We can compare the 2022 Eagles to the 2024 Eagles and get a more accurate sense of which one was better. Let’s see how they stack up.

Quarterback

As brilliant as Jalen Hurts was Sunday against the Washington Commanders in the conference championship game, it’s difficult to make the case that his 2024 season has been superior to ’22, when he was an MVP candidate, a more dynamic runner, and the best player in Super Bowl LVII. The comparison, based on Hurts’ statistics in each of those seasons, is closer than you might first think. A slightly more mobile Hurts is a better Hurts.

— Advantage: 2022.

Receivers

A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert then. The same troika now. The difference here is the depth behind them. When Goedert missed time to injury this season, Grant Calcaterra held his own as a pass-catching tight end; Calcaterra was just a rookie in ’22. As for the Eagles’ No. 3 wideout, Quez Watkins was more productive than Jahan Dotson has been, but that’s at least in part a function of the reality that the Eagles didn’t throw the ball as much this season as they did in 2022. And besides, isn’t Dotson simply more trustworthy as a receiver than Watkins, who dropped a deep pass that could have changed the outcome of that Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs?

Advantage: 2024.

Running backs

No need to waste much time here. Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell were fine. To call Saquon Barkley fine would be an insult to him.

— Huge advantage: 2024.

Offensive line

Assume for the sake of argument that Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson will be healthy for Super Bowl LIX. Would you take the 2022 line, with Jason Kelce at center, with Isaac Seumalo at guard, and a younger Lane Johnson? Or this season’s group, with a more experienced Jordan Mailata and with Mekhi Becton?

— Advantage: Too close to call.

Defensive line

Jalen Carter alone would seem at first to give this season’s collection of D-linemen the edge here. But include Haason Reddick as a pass-rushing end (even though he technically was a linebacker), and it’s hard to get past all those sacks the ’22 group collected. Four guys with 11 or more, five guys with at least seven — that slick field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., really did hurt the Eagles that night.

— Ever-so-slight advantage: 2022.

Linebackers

T.J. Edwards was excellent for the Eagles, leading them in tackles in ’22. He was not a defensive-player-of-the-year candidate, though. Zack Baun is, and you have to feel a bit better about the Eagles’ chances of limiting Travis Kelce because of Baun’s presence.

— Advantage: 2024.

Defensive backs

James Bradberry’s costly and controversial defensive holding penalty late in Super Bowl LVII can make people forget just how good he had been that season. Still, Quinyon Mitchell has been a shutdown corner since the moment he stepped onto an NFL field. Cooper DeJean is a terrific slot corner. And Darius Slay and C.J. Gardner-Johnson have been as good or better this season than they were in ’22.

— Advantage: 2024.

Special teams

Arryn Siposs was dealing with an ankle injury during Super Bowl LVII, which likely contributed to his poor 38-yard punt that led to Kadarius Toney’s 65-yard, game-swinging return. The Eagles’ coverage units were weaknesses all season, too. But Jake Elliott was not. Jake Elliott was totally reliable then. Now? Hmmm …

— Advantage: None.

Coaching

The gap here between these teams isn’t as wide as it is at running back, but it’s pretty close. Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore are equals as play-callers. But Nick Sirianni is a more mature head coach, and Vic Fangio is a vast upgrade over Jonathan Gannon, whose defenses struggled to stop a competent opposing quarterback, let alone Patrick Mahomes.

— Advantage: 2024.

Final tally

This season’s Eagles 5, That season’s Eagles 2, with two draws and a couple of extra points to the 2024 team for Barkley and Fangio. So are you reassured that this team really is better than that one? Or are you figuring it’ll just be that much worse come Feb. 9 in New Orleans, when the anvil once again will fall from the sky on your head?

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