Eagles in 1st Place but Lack Hallmark Wins to Instill Confidence

Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles were considered surprise NFC East champions, feasting on a weak schedule to finish 10-6. They defeated one playoff team en route to a first-round playoff exit, the lone victory coming against a Green Bay Packers squad missing franchise quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Fast forward to 2014, when even after suffering a defeat at the hands of Rodgers, the Eagles have managed to amass a 7-3 record and are seemingly well on their way back to the postseason. Clearly, Chip Kelly is building a winning program in Philadelphia—only who exactly have his teams beaten?

It seems an especially pertinent question after Rodgers guided his perennial Super Bowl contender Packers to a no-sweat 53-20 victory over the Birds at Lambeau Field on Sunday. Despite an impressive 17-10 record in regular-season and playoff games since Kelly’s arrival, the second-year head coach has very few momentous or even quality wins to hang his hat on.

Fair or unfair, it adds to the doubt that the Eagles are “for real” or, putting it in more concrete terms, legitimate Super Bowl contenders themselves.

YR	Sub-.500	.500	Plus-.500	PO Teams
2013	6-2	2-1	2-4	1-4
2014	5-0	1-0	1-3	-
Total	11-2	3-1	3-7

This season, they’ve beaten a single club that appears to be tournament-bound—the Indianapolis Colts. Altogether, the Eagles are 1-3 against teams above .500.

Furthermore, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to describe this phenomenon as anything less than a continuation from the 2013 campaign. After all, Philadelphia returned 20 of 22 offensive and defensive starters from last year, so while the roster may be deeper and more talented, it’s also remarkably similar.

In addition to claiming their sole victory against a playoff opponent over a Packers team minus Rodgers in '13, the Eagles only notched one more win against an opponent with a winning record all year—the Arizona Cardinals. That includes a home loss to the New Orleans Saints in the opening round of the postseason tournament.

All told, Philadelphia has a 3-7 record against opponents with winning records under Kelly, including playoffs.

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

It’s not as if the Eagles are being outclassed many weeks the way they were against the Packers, a loss very reminiscent of last year’s 52-20 drubbing against the Denver Broncos—a club that went on to play in the Super Bowl. That's the only other example where the Birds never showed.

That being said, where are the hallmark wins NFL teams respect much less even fear? Where are the victories that make observers say Philadelphia is a legitimate threat to make noise when it gets into the playoffs?

The Eagles can only play the teams on their schedule, and it just so happens they haven’t run into too many tough tests during Kelly’s first two seasons on the sidelines. They can’t be blamed for taking care of business more often than not, building a 15-3 record off teams that are no better than .500.

Then again, it’s not as if they are putting these opponents away with ease either. Five of Philadelphia’s seven wins in ’14 were contested into the fourth quarter, if not down to the absolute wire. Only recently have the Eagles mixed in a pair of prime-time blowouts over the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers to elevate their stock in the power rankings.

How much cache did they hand right back with their inability to even give the Packers a game?

Week	Opponent	Home/Away	Record
12	Tennessee Titans	H	2-7
13	Dallas Cowvoys	A	7-3
14	Seattle Seahawks	H	6-4
15	Dallas Cowboys	H	7-3
16	Washington	A	3-7
17	New York Giants	A	3-7

It's a game, of course, that counts as only one game in the standings and therefore neither defines Philly’s season nor anybody else in that locker room. Blowouts happen—no NFL has gone undefeated since 1972. And ugly as it was, this will likely blow over, and the Eagles will soon be back to running opponents out of the building the way we’ve become accustomed to under Kelly.

All things being equal, though, it’s fair to wonder when the Eagles are going to play a game like that against somebody who, you know, is actually pretty good. Because that’s what they’re going to have to do to advance in the playoffs this time around, much less make an actual run at winning the big one.