Biggest Obstacles Eagles Face in Pursuit of Super Bowl Title This Season

Philadelphia Eagles fans began 2017 with the hopes that their team could take the next step and become serious playoff contenders. Fast forward to Thanksgiving, and expectations have ratcheted up quite a bit.

The Eagles have sustained their hot start to the season to win eight straight games, leading the NFC with a 9-1 record that includes a recent statement win in Dallas over the Cowboys. After years of mediocrity following the Andy Reid era, this 2017 Philadelphia roster appears more suited for a Super Bowl run than any Eagles team in recent memory.

MVP candidate Carson Wentz and crew have left little doubt that they're the team to beat in the NFC, but they aren't alone among red-hot teams in the conference eyeing a February trip to Minneapolis. Those teams aren't the only potential roadblocks, as the Eagles have some tough navigating to do within their own roster to keep their roll going into the postseason.

Now that the Eagles are 10 games in, there's a better idea of the toughest obstacles standing in their way of fulfilling their destiny in the form of a trip to Super Bowl 52. Let's break them down one by one.

The New Orleans Saints

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A New Orleans Saints team that appeared more likely to compete for the NFC South cellar going into 2017 than the Super Bowl is sitting pretty at 8-2 going into Week 12.

The magical season that the Saints are putting together has offered one of the bigger surprises of 2017. But should we be surprised? Since Drew Brees' arrival in New Orleans, the Saints have been elite whenever he's had an above-average defense and complementary pieces around him on offense.

One year removed from giving up the most passing yards in the league, the Saints defense has suddenly found its stride. The unit has held opponents to less than 20 points in six of their eight wins, but there's still no secret that the offense is the engine.

Brees is as good as he's ever been through the air, but he's never had a run game quite like this 2017 version. The two-headed attack of Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara has electrified the league, lifting the Saints to a third-best 144 yards rushing per game going into Week 12.

In a potential playoff matchup, the Eagles should be able to move the ball fine against a Saints defense that has struggled against the league's better offenses. But the Saints may be one of the only teams in the league with an offense that can inflict fear in the Eagles' burly defense, with Brees more than capable of slicing up the Eagles secondary even if they limit the Ingram-Kamara duo.

The Minnesota Vikings

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A Week 11 matchup between the Vikings and Los Angeles Rams, two 7-2 teams atop their divisions, became a telling one for the Eagles to figure out their biggest competition in the NFC. And the one-sided nature of the Vikings' 24-7 victory cannot be ignored.

The Rams are on the uptick and are still NFC West favorites, but there's no doubt that Minnesota is further along in its quest for contention. After being in the mix a season ago, the Vikings have the experience to raise their games in the second half. And most importantly, they have a defense that can take over a game.

Minnesota has given up the fifth-fewest yards per game behind a run defense that is second behind the Eagles, and head coach Mike Zimmer loves to load up on the run while trusting his secondary in man coverage. That's the type of defense that is best against this multifaceted Eagles attack. If the Vikings can win up front and their corners don't get burned, they become an awfully tough defense to reach the end zone against.

The Vikings were easy to dismiss when Dalvin Cook went down for the season and the revolving door at quarterback settled on Case Keenum, but their offense hasn't been better over the last several seasons than it is with Keenum. Behind Jerrick McKinnon and Latavius Murray, they have the talent to run behind a decent offensive line and game-changing receivers in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.

Minnesota is only one game back from Philly for home-field advantage in the NFC, and U.S. Bank Stadium in January would be an awfully tough place to win with Vikings fans well aware that they're hosting this year's Super Bowl.

The Atlanta Falcons

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The playoff picture in the NFC is undeniably murky, with so many teams treading water that could easily turn into Super Bowl contenders if they get the ball rolling.

The surging Carolina Panthers are 7-3, the Seattle Seahawks aren't going anywhere at 6-4, and even the 5-5 Cowboys could nudge their way back into it. But no team in the wild-card picture should inflict more fear than the reigning NFC champions.

Whether it's a hangover from the events of Super Bowl 51, a drop-off from losing offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan or a combination of both, the Falcons haven't been themselves in 2017.

The gutsy road win in Seattle on Monday Night Football could be the springboard for the Falcons, who finally showcased the game-changing defense and machine-like offense that made them an elite team a season ago.

The same offense that lit up the league in 2016 is still surrounding reigning MVP Matt Ryan, and it's one of the only units that appears poised to give the Eagles defense considerable trouble. Even the improved Philly secondary would be no match for an in-form Ryan and Julio Jones, along with the complementary pieces that are beginning to step up.

Atlanta's defense is more susceptible than it was a season ago, but its pass rush is beginning to rediscover their dominant potential. For all of the Eagles' success on offense, they have struggled to protect Wentz against the league's better fronts.

A divisional-round clash with a surging Falcons wild-card team is not high on the list of priorities for the Eagles, and it could spell doom if they don't play at their best.

Key Injuries

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The Eagles' injury woes haven't come back to bite them yet, at least in terms of losing games or on-field production. But they've become worryingly thin at a number of key positions.

The biggest blows came in short succession several weeks ago against Washington, when budding star middle linebacker Jordan Hicks suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. In the same game, long-time stalwart left tackle Jason Peters tore his ACL and MCL. 

Granted, the Eagles don't have it as bad as a lot of teams in the injury department. But it could be argued that Hicks and Peters are two of the five most important individual players on this 2017 roster, and replacing them will feature an inevitable drop-off.

Philly has been fortunate to get a strong couple of games from replacement left tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai, decreasing the pressure on Pederson to shift right tackle Lane Johnson over. But an injury to "Big V" could send the entire offensive line into a tailspin and stunt this offense's flow.

Just as well, Hicks has proved tough to replace in the middle of the defense. The Eagles are thin at linebacker, with nobody they trust to play regular snaps outside of Nigel Bradham and Mychal Kendricks. Losing Hicks has forced defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz into running 4-2-5 packages regularly, and it's scary to think of what would happen if Bradham or Kendricks were to go down.

Injuries are inevitable in pro football, and great teams find ways to rise above them. But any team can only handle so many. At a couple of positions, the Eagles are one injury away from having serious issues.

Secondary Potentially Dropping Off

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The Eagles' biggest area of concern going into the season hasn't been one through 10 games, but it began that way for a reason. As well as Philly's secondary has played, it could easily fall flat against the NFC's high-powered pass attacks.

Let's give the Eagles corners a tremendous amount of credit. The unit appeared to be in serious trouble after Ronald Darby's Week 1 injury, but the likes of Jalen Mills, Patrick Robinson and Rasul Douglas stepped up big-time. Darby is now back in the fold after intercepting Dak Prescott in his return in Week 11.

Philly's secondary has been stout when tested this season, but the role the Eagles' dominant pass rush has played in that can't be ignored. The front seven has taken over games, making the jobs of the Eagles corners exponentially easier.

The Eagles secondary had their worst performances in games against the Los Angeles Chargers and New York Giants that featured quick-hitting passes to keep the pass rush at bay. Playoff-hopeful teams like New Orleans and Atlanta are more than capable of playing that way, and that should keep Eagles fans cautious about their secondary's ability to perform when under the microscope.

Philly's cornerbacks have been more than good enough through the team's 9-1 start, and that can't be ignored. But when January rolls around, all it takes is one bad game from a positional unit to end the season.

The New England Patriots

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It feels weird to look ahead this far, but there are multiple reasons why this is probably the chief obstacle in the Eagles' way of winning Super Bowl 52.

For starters, there aren't enough weaknesses on this Eagles team to identify. If they go down, it's because they faced a team capable of exploiting weaknesses that they didn't know they had. There's been no better coach at doing just that in NFL history than Bill Belichick. 

Then, there are the obvious reasons. New England has won two of the last three Super Bowls and is peaking heading into the stretch run. The Patriots are far and away the AFC favorite, and the same Belichick-Tom Brady duo that leads them now is the one that stymied Philly's last chance for glory in 2005.

You won't catch the Eagles looking this far ahead until they potentially win the NFC, but it appears likely—if not inevitable—that if Philly wins the NFC, the Patriots will be the team welcoming them to Minneapolis. With Brady spreading the ball around as well as ever and the defense finally getting its act together, New England will be the toughest out in the playoffs.

If the Eagles sustain their current play all the way to February, any fan has to like their chances against any team. But as we've all seen, the Patriots have a way of out-lasting teams that may be better when the light is brightest.