Year in Review: Recapping Philadelphia Eagles' 2017 Season
The Philadelphia Eagles are cruising toward the postseason thanks to a whirlwind 2017 campaign that promises to go down as one of the best in franchise history.
On the heels of a Week 16 win Monday against the Oakland Raiders, the Eagles are one win away from posting the team's best regular-season record since the NFL merger. More importantly at the moment, the win guaranteed that the NFC playoffs will go through Philly's Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles' season has enjoyed many more highs than lows as told by the 13-2 record, but just about every emotion has been felt throughout the first 15 games. Although this team will be remembered for how they finish, their magical journey through the regular season has left a lasting mark on Philadelphia and the league going into 2018.
As head coach Doug Pederson and his team look forward, let's look back and relive the 2017 season that will soon draw to a close.
The Win Streak
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Lumping the Eagles' dominating stretch of play from Weeks 3 through 12 into one moment is a disservice to everything the team did throughout a nine-game win streak. However, it's proved to be the difference between Philly and the rest of the league in 2017.
The Eagles fell victim to a strong Kansas City Chiefs team on the road on Sept. 17. They didn't lose another game until December in a road loss to Seattle. Philadelphia won for two-and-a-half months straight, and it took road trips to arguably the two toughest buildings in the league to produce the only blemishes on the team's record.
There were grind-it-out victories, late-game heroics and defensive stands, but the blowouts began to etch Philly's place atop the league. In three-straight games against Denver, Dallas and Chicago, the Eagles outscored their opponents by a combined 119-35 as Carson Wentz threw for nine touchdowns and no picks.
Spectacular performances from virtually every area of the team played huge roles, and they'll be dissected as we go along. But you can't begin a recap of Philly's 2017 without acknowledging how masterfully everything came together throughout the middle of the season.
Defensive Resurgence
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The Eagles defense hasn't been short on skill and potential the last few seasons, but severe weaknesses at key spots have perpetually doomed the unit. Everything has come together—for the most part—in 2017.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has orchestrated one of the best defenses in the league this season, with the Eagles defense ranking fifth-best in yards allowed per game and 10th in points allowed. The pass rush has consistently dominated games, taking pressure off a young secondary that has done more than enough to get the Eagles in the win column week after week.
Philly didn't make an upheaval of talent like it did on offense, but savvy draft work and a few key additions have made a big difference. Rookies Derek Barnett and Rasul Douglas have impressed, and the offseason acquisitions of Chris Long and Timmy Jernigan have helped to tie everything together.
The front four's authority in the trenches has forced most of the Eagles' opponents to become one-dimensional. The Eagles defense has allowed almost 300 yards less than any other team in the league on the ground.
There's undoubtedly room to grow, as the unit has seen a drop-off in the last quarter of the season with questions rising in the secondary. They need to get back to their midseason form before the playoffs roll around. But if they do, the Eagles could become virtually unbeatable in the NFC, no matter who's leading the offense.
Carson Wentz Becomes a Face of the League
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His 2017 season didn't end the way he and Eagles fans wanted, but Carson Wentz proved he'll be one of the league's biggest stars for a long time throughout a MVP-caliber sophomore campaign.
One year removed from a 16-touchdown, 14-interception rookie season, Wentz dazzled with 33 touchdowns that still leads the league and seven interceptions on 3,296 yards. He threw for multiple touchdowns in 10 of 13 games, and was the odds-on MVP according to OddsShark before a torn ACL against the Rams in Week 14 ended his season.
Wentz's play in 2017 electrified the Eagles' fanbase, as told by his jersey sales ranking highest in the league through November on NFL Shop. Of far more importance is his role in leading the Eagles to 11 wins out of 13 that allowed them to clinch the NFC East in the game that he suffered his injury.
There were too many heroic sack-evasions, long touchdown passes and gutsy first-down runs to count. There were too many near-perfect performances in key games to call out just one or two. But the moments of incredible play from Wentz in 2017 will go down in Eagles lore, no matter how this season eventually ends.
It's natural for Eagles fans to be dismayed as Wentz rehabs while the team eyes a postseason run, but the 24-year-old figures to be leading Philadelphia into the playoffs for many, many seasons to come. The future is as bright in the City of Brotherly Love as it is in any other NFL city.
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Skill-Position Overhaul Reaps Benefits
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As great as Wentz has been throughout the season, he wouldn't have enjoyed nearly as much success if it weren't for general manager Howie Roseman's savvy offseason.
Roseman brought in Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, LeGarrette Blount and a crop of impact rookies to inject life into Pederson's offense that lacked playmaking in Wentz's rookie season. The results have been about as positive as Eagles fans could have hoped.
The one-year gamble on Jeffery, who's since signed a long-term deal, paid off big time as he's become the No. 1 presence that Eagles fans craved. Blount emerged as one of the NFL's leading rushers until a midseason trade for Jay Ajayi shifted the balance of power in the backfield.
Nelson Agholor has been a revelation throughout his breakout third season, and undrafted rookie back Corey Clement forced his way into a crowded backfield that ranks top five in the league in team rushing yards.
Just one season ago, the Eagles could hardly find a reliable skill-position player to turn to. This year, they're getting big-time performances from different players week in and week out.
Next Man Up
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Long before the fateful injury of Week 14, the Eagles were forced to become a resilient team with a next-man-up mentality if they wanted to continue a strong start to 2017.
Darren Sproles suffered two serious injuries on the same play early in Week 3, ending the season of the veteran return man and offensive weapon. Left tackle Jason Peters and middle linebacker Jordan Hicks each suffered season-ending injuries in Week 7, unquestionably two of the most important players for their respective units.
But the Eagles have continuously gotten strong performances from replacements and seen elevated play across the board to hide the gaps. Halapoulivaati Vaitai has filled in well at left tackle, while Nigel Bradham and Malcolm Jenkins' impact in the middle of the defense have grown in Hicks' absence.
A Week 1 injury to Ronald Darby, which kept the No. 1 corner out for eight games, could have exposed one of the team's weaker units, but young corners have stepped up to prevent a collapse.
Injuries are an inevitability in the NFL, but it's awfully rare to see such a devastating run of season-ending injuries fail to derail a team's season. The Eagles would've had plenty of excuses to fold, but they seemed to increase their level of play with each injury.
Wentz's Torn ACL in NFC East Clinching Win
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If you had asked an Eagles fan going into Week 14 what development could ruin the mood of the team clinching the NFC East with a month to go in the season, a serious injury to their signal-caller would have likely been the only answer.
Their worst nightmare came to fruition late in the third quarter of a 43-35 win over the Rams, when Wentz suffered a torn ACL diving into the end zone on a touchdown run that wouldn't count.
Nick Foles came in to save the day and clinch the division for Philly, but the resulting news that Wentz would be lost for the season was met by some as a funeral for the 2017 season. In the immediate aftermath, few people around the league, Eagles fans or not, remained hopeful that Philadelphia could march on to the Super Bowl without their MVP-candidate quarterback.
To his credit, Foles is one of the better backups in the league, and his track record of success in Philly has revitalized the fanbase. They're 3-0 since Wentz went down, but the offense's struggles against the Raiders in Week 16 have left plenty of room for doubt as to the Eagles' chances of navigating through the NFC without Wentz.
The Eagles are certainly capable of putting together a run to the Super Bowl without Wentz, thanks to a dominating defense and a wealth of skill players on offense. But if the Eagles go down thanks to the offense sputtering, fans will always be left wondering what could have been in 2017.
Resilient Eagles Clinch NFC's Top Seed
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The Eagles are forced to find new ways to win games following Went'z injury, but they have showcased their resiliency more than ever before since their leader went down.
Foles orchestrated a late comeback to beat the Rams after Wentz left the game, and the team needed all four of his touchdown passes along with some special teams help to outlast a big day from Eli Manning's Giants in Week 15. They got back to basics in Week 16, winning an ugly Christmas night game 13-10 over the Oakland Raiders that clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff hunt.
At the least, the Eagles will tie their franchise record for best regular season in the modern era with a 13-3 record. If they reign supreme against the Cowboys, their 14-2 record will be the best in franchise history since the merger.
There are certainly issues left for the Eagles to work out before the playoffs, but they assured themselves an enviable two weeks of rest and the ability to play out the entirety of January at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles can use a meaningless Week 17 bout with Dallas to get healthy with the promise that they won't have to hit the road unless they reach the Super Bowl.
All that extra rest time won't bring Wentz, Peters, Hicks or Sproles back for the playoffs, but it affords the rest of a banged-up roster the opportunity to be at 100 percent when a wild-card round winner visits South Philly in mid-January.
To Be Continued...
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As magical and emotion-filled as the 2017 season has been for the Philadelphia Eagles, the best may be yet to come.
Even the most pessimistic Eagles fans have to acknowledge the importance of Philly's Week 16 win that clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Eagles defense will have to deal with some potent offenses in the NFC, but doing so at home gives them the best chance to dominate on that side of the ball and take offenses out of their comfort zones.
Playoff contenders like the Panthers and Saints will strut out star quarterbacks that the Eagles can't match, but their fearsome pass rush and stout run defense has proved it can stand up to any attack. They are finding ways to win games against good teams without Wentz, and there's no reason to doubt their chances of doing it a few more times in the postseason.
The road will be difficult, and it demands big-time performances from players previously not counted on. But things haven't been easy for the Eagles at any point this season, and they've found a way to go 13-2 and announce themselves as the class of the NFC.
Folks around the league can count out the Eagles all they want as the postseason draws nearer. Eagles fans wouldn't have it any other way.
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