How Close Are the Philadelphia Eagles to NFC's Elite Teams?

The Philadelphia Eagles looked like they could be one of the elite teams in the National Football League heading into December 2014, when they boasted a 9-3 record and appeared to have an outside chance at home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. But the Eagles stumbled, losing three straight games to finish at 10-6 without a postseason berth in year two of the Chip Kelly era.

Meanwhile, the top two teams in the NFC each continued their success throughout the end of the regular season and deep into the postseason. Those teams, of course, are the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers.

A classic NFC Championship Game saw the Packers blow a 19-7 lead before losing 28-22 in overtime. The Seahawks experienced their own share of heartbreak when Russell Wilson's last-second interception cost Seattle a second straight Super Bowl title. 

It's hard to see the Eagles having much of a chance against either Seattle or Green Bay if they had somehow made the playoffs. After all, Green Bay beat the Eagles 53-20 in November and Seattle dismantled the Eagles 24-14 in early December. There was no way the players on the Eagles' roster could compete with elite teams. And that's why the craziness started. 

This offseason, Chip Kelly has completely revamped the Eagles' roster.

He traded quarterback Nick Foles to the St. Louis Rams for former No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford. He traded the league's leading rusher in 2013, LeSean McCoy, and signed the league's leading rusher in 2014, DeMarco Murray, in free agency.

He allowed Pro Bowl wide receiver Jeremy Maclin to walk in free agency. He added star linebacker Kiko Alonso in a trade. And he signed cornerback Byron Maxwell to the second-highest contract free-agent deal in franchise history. 

It's been an offseason unlike any other in franchise history. Kelly has clearly shown that he's willing to part ways with any player on his roster. It's not that he hates star players, though. He just isn't afraid to turn down an opportunity to upgrade. 

The McCoy-for-Alonso trade is the perfect example. Kelly looked at McCoy as a terrific—yet flawed—running back who had played well over half of his career and wasn't the best fit for his system. So he exchanged him for a linebacker who turned in one of the best rookie seasons by a defensive player in recent memory in 2013. Oh, and that player also went to Oregon.

As for Alonso's ACL tear, Kelly no doubt believes that his Sports Science system has the ability to keep Alonso healthy for the future. 

The same applies for a number of other injury-prone players whom Kelly brought in, notably quarterback Sam Bradford.

The former 2010 offensive Rookie of the Year has missed the last 25 regular-season games with consecutive ACL tears. Trading a second- and a fourth-round pick for a quarterback with Bradford's injury history, questionable talent level and high salary is a bold move. That is, unless Kelly plans to swap Bradford in a move for Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, one of the top players in the 2015 draft. 

Newly signed running backs DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews have also struggled with injuries. So has new cornerback Walter Thurmond. That makes five offseason acquisitions who have big injury histories, and three of them are expected to play an extremely prominent role in 2015: Bradford, Murray and Alonso. It goes without saying that injuries could make or break the season for Kelly's Eagles.

In all, it's tough to know exactly how the Eagles will produce as a team in 2015, but it's clear that the Eagles upgraded at running back, linebacker and cornerback. They stayed about the same at quarterback. They got a little worse on the offensive line and at safety. And they downgraded significantly at wide receiver.

Of course, the Eagles still have this month's draft to finalize their team. They could add key players such as Nelson Agholor, Jake Fisher, Byron Jones and Eric Rowe. Or they could pull off the trade of the century and grab Chip's king duck, Marcus Mariota.

So until the Eagles know who will be starting for their 2015 team at such positions as wide receiver, cornerback, safety and especially quarterback, it's impossible to know where the Eagles rank among the NFC's elite teams. 

But even if the Eagles draft Mariota and land starters at their other remaining positions, they're still only the third-best team in the NFC. I would argue that the Eagles have surpassed the Dallas Cowboys as the team to beat in the NFC East, especially with the acquisition of Dallas' prized weapon from 2014.

The San Francisco 49ers are no longer a threat. The Arizona Cardinals have a major question mark regarding Carson Palmer's health in 2014, and the Detroit Lions seem primed for regression following the loss of star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. 

It's the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers who still rule the NFC, though. Those two teams played in last year's title game, and they appear the heavy favorites, on paper, to compete for the NFC championship again next season. 

For the Seahawks, no NFL team comes close to their defense, especially their legendary Legion of Boom defensive backfield, which includes the game's best cornerback, Richard Sherman, the game's best safety, Earl Thomas, and another All-Pro safety, Kam Chancellor. 

They also have a great quarterback in Russell Wilson, a dominant running back in Marshawn Lynch and a number of other players on the defensive side of the ball, such as pass-rusher Cliff Avril and linebacker Bobby Wagner. When you remember Seattle also traded for tight end Jimmy Graham to give Wilson the first great receiving threat of his career, it's hard to call any team except Seattle the team to beat in the NFC. 

After all, Seattle won the Super Bowl in historic fashion after the 2013 season and appeared in a second Super Bowl during the 2014 season.

They've ranked as the best team in the NFL, per Football Outsiders' DVOA ratings, during each of the last three seasons, and almost all of their best players are still on their rookie contracts. As long as they have Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and the Legion of Boom, they're not going anywhere anytime soon. 

For Green Bay, the team begins and ends with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the best quarterback in the league, a two-time MVP who is playing at as high of a level as anybody in the history of the game. As long as Rodgers stays healthy, it's almost impossible to see Green Bay winning fewer than 11 games in any given season. 

On defense, the Packers have a turnover-prone unit with players such as Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Casey Hayward. They also have pass-rusher Clay Matthews, who is one of the best defensive players in the game, as long as he is healthy. The Packers have a defense that ranks about average in the league, but this team is built around its No. 1 offense, and more importantly, Aaron Rodgers. 

The Packers have consistently been one of the league's best teams since 2009, Rodgers' second season. They've made the playoffs all six seasons, winning a Super Bowl in 2010 and breaking the single-season scoring record in 2011. 

Just like the Seahawks will almost never be completely out of a game because their defense has the ability to shut down almost any team, the Packers will almost never be out of a game because their quarterback can go head-to-head in a shootout with any team. 

The Eagles don't have that.

Their biggest weapon is a coach, and Chip Kelly is one of the brightest offensive minds in the league. He led the Eagles to the third-most points in the NFL in 2013 and the fourth-most points in the NFL in 2014. He did all of that without the quarterback, running back or wide receivers of his choosing. Now he has his quarterback, his running backs and, assuming one is selected in the draft, his choice of receivers. 

The excuses aren't there anymore for the Eagles and Kelly. It's time to win the NFC East again and win a playoff game this time. But unless the Eagles get a franchise quarterback and one or two elite defensive players, they're still just not in the same class as a team such as Seattle or Green Bay.