Mike Sielski: The Eagles are better positioned to repeat than they were in 2018. And it's not even close

PHILADELPHIA — The word unprecedented gets thrown around a lot in sports. Often, it is used in situations where it doesn’t really apply.

One analyst/talking head, for instance, recently argued that “we are in the midst of literal unprecedented greatness” because the Kansas City Chiefs are “tied for the greatest three-year stretch in the history of football” by reaching three consecutive Super Bowls and winning two of them.

Unless tied means something different from what it always has, a team already had accomplished exactly what the Chiefs had. Actually, two teams already had accomplished it. So, yeah: precedent. Big time.

It would be wrong, then, for anyone to suggest that the Eagles, in coming off a Super Bowl victory, face an unprecedented situation this season. They don’t. They, as an organization, have been here before, and not that long ago. That 2018 season was a bumpy ride: a 9-7 regular season, a late push to qualify for the playoffs, the “double-doink” win over the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round, a crucial dropped pass by Alshon Jeffery and a loss to the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round.

This season should be smoother. That expectation doesn’t mean that the Eagles are assured of repeating as the league’s champions, but the differences between the team they were seven years ago and the team they are at the moment suggest that they’re better positioned to defend their title. Let’s consider a few of those most important differences.

The 2025 team has a more settled situation at quarterback.

There is little controversy around the Eagles’ QBs — at least, not in terms of their pecking order. Jalen Hurts is the reigning Super Bowl MVP, a franchise centerpiece. While there’s disagreement about how Hurts compares to the other elite quarterbacks in the league, there is no question that, as long as he remains healthy, he is, will be, and should be the Eagles’ starter from Week 1 on.

The 2018 team did not have that luxury. With Nick Foles playing in place of Carson Wentz, the Eagles had defied innumerable odds in winning a Super Bowl — A backup beat Belichick and Brady! — and because Wentz was still recovering from his knee injury, Foles would start the first two games of the ‘18 season.

What if Foles continued to play well? What if the team fared better with him than with Wentz? What if certain players felt Foles should start ahead of Wentz? Those and other questions never really went away. The Eagles were 6-7 when Wentz left the lineup again; Foles stepped in, led them to four straight victories (including one in the postseason), and reaffirmed his status as an all-time Philadelphia folk hero.

“Everything internally was always about getting [Wentz] back and getting him prepared, which was tough for me,” Foles recently said on his podcast, "The SZN." “Though I’m starting the first two games of the season, everyone’s just getting ready for Carson to come back because he’s the franchise. It was a weird dynamic, [but] not between me and Carson. It was a weird leadership dynamic where I’m trying to lead and Carson’s trying to lead as well because he’s coming back. You could never figure out the right culture on the offense because it’s not your franchise quarterback. You’re in confusion.”

The 2025 team has more talent, depth, and continuity at the offensive skill positions.

Zach Ertz had a remarkable season, the best of his career and the best by any Eagles tight end ever, in 2018: 116 receptions; 1,163 yards; eight touchdowns. And the Eagles had to lean on him, because their other receivers and running backs were … eh. Jeffery put up solid numbers in 13 games (65 catches, 843 yards, six TDs). But without Torrey Smith (whom the team did not re-sign) and with Nelson Agholor as the No. 2 wideout, Howie Roseman had to fortify the position by acquiring Golden Tate at the trade deadline. Trivia question time: Who was the Eagles’ leading rusher in 2018? If you guessed Josh Adams (with a meager 511 yards), you are a savant.

Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, even Jahan Dotson as the No. 3 wide receiver: This year’s Eagles have it all over the ’18 Eagles on the outside and in the backfield.

The 2025 team can learn from a recent Super Bowl loss.

The Eagles’ run in 2017-18 was a bolt from the blue, the team’s first Super Bowl appearance in 13 years, a surprise that few saw coming. Contrast the aftermath of that championship — Doug Pederson’s boast that winning championships was “the new normal,” for instance — with the aftermath of Eagles 40, Chiefs 22 last February.

“I don’t like hearing, ‘We’re the defending champions,’” left tackle Jordan Mailata said early in training camp. “We’re not defending nothing. We just won the title, and now we’ve got to go win it again.”

It won’t be surprising if the Eagles get back to the big game, in part because they’ve been there twice in the last three years. That 38-35 loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII certainly motivated several Eagles players and coaches ahead of Super Bowl LIX. From a more practical standpoint, though, many members of the coaching staff and roster will have more experience and more credibility, if times get tough this season, when they say, Hey, we’ve done it before. We’ll be OK.