A Cowboys writer acknowledges the potential of the 2019 Philadelphia Eagles
The NFC East might not be the most competitive division in 2019, but the battle between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles should be an interesting one next season.
Last season was one to forget for the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite making it to the divisional round after barely squeaking into the playoffs, the Eagles were quite disappointing last year. Sometimes, teams are satisfied with just making the playoffs. But as the Eagles were one year removed from winning the Super Bowl, the expectations were sky high.
Following up a 13-3 regular season record by going 9-7 is far from ideal. Granted, the Eagles were loaded up with injuries in their defensive secondary, injuries in the backfield on offense, and didn’t get the best from their franchise quarterback before he went out for the rest of the year as well.
It almost felt like the Eagles fell asleep at the wheel last season. They should’ve been in the driver’s seat of the NFC East. Instead, they fell out of favor and placed in second place. And worst of all, they got swept by the Dallas Cowboys in 2018. Now, the Eagles division rivals are taking advantage of their newly issued bragging rights. But how long will those rights last?
Dallas might be confident heading into 2019 — but there’s a specific Cowboys writer out there who is pumping the brakes on looking past the Eagles. Sure, they struggled in 2018 — but the upgrades on the 2019 team are nothing to overlook. As DannyPhantom of SB Nation’s Blogging the Boys identified the state of the Eagles, he made it clear that the Cowboys should “most definitley” be worried about the Eagles in 2019.
Looking at the Eagles from a Cowboys fan’s point of view
"“The Eagles have one of the most seasoned rosters in the league. They are talented, and they are plentiful. Roseman has done a great job keeping the train moving. Even when they suffer losses, they use free agency to find replacements. You lose Michael Bennett along the defensive line? No problem, here’s Malik Jackson to help out. Golden Tate darts in free agency” “How’s a little DeSean Jackson work for you? And if you’re feeling down about losing Jay Ajayi, don’t fret because Jordan Howard is here to run the ball.” “And when they lost Jordan Hicks, it felt like that could them hurt more than some were willing to admit, yet they turned around and replaced him with the sneaky good acquisition of Zach Brown. They’re like the liquid metal T-1000 Terminator model. No matter how many blows they take, they somehow keep fixing themselves and keep coming after you.”"
No lies detected here. Yes, the Eagles are a talented team when you look at their starting roster. And the replacements from the 2018 team are mostly upgrades. But it goes deeper than just the starting bunch. The Eagles proved in 2017 that they are built to be prepared for disaster. If they lose a key player, they have a reliable backup who’s ready to take over.
Next. Comparing today’s offense to the 2017 unit. dark
The ‘next-man-up’ mentality is real in Philly, and not every team is fortunate enough to have that. The Cowboys will most likely be a playoff-caliber team in 2019, but so will the Eagles. And although the Eagles struggled last season, nobody should expect to see them regress, or even play as lousy in 2019. This team on paper is better. And after seeing how well they did over the last two seasons even with key injuries, the NFC East is surely on notice.