Inside the Iggles
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3 Reasons Philadelphia Eagles HC Doug Pederson will soon rule NFC football

By Derek McCauley

Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 18: Head coach Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints and head coach Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles talk before a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 18, 2018, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 18: Head coach Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints and head coach Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles talk before a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 18, 2018, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

3. He hasn’t reached his ceiling yet.

This slow start out of the blocks against two of the best coaches in the league could and would happen to any coach. Most would have gotten demoralized, but Pederson learned from these losses. The perfect example of this is the aforementioned NFC Divisional game last season.

The Eagles marched into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on the heels of another improbable playoff push and took the field against a New Orleans Saints team that had throttled them 48-7 in that same building earlier in the season. Against all odds, Pederson’s re-dubbed “Underdogs” hopped out to a 14-0 lead and had the Superdome in shock.

The Eagles’ makeshift secondary intercepted Drew Brees early, and their fearsome defensive front swallowed up New Orleans’ dual-headed rushing attack of Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. This was a stark contrast from the Week 11 contest. In that one, the pairing of Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara gashed Philadelphia for 174 yards and two touchdowns. In the playoffs, the Eagles saw a potential go-ahead drive end when Nick Foles‘ final pass of the season slipped through Alshon Jeffery‘s hands and fell straight into Marshon Lattimore‘s lap.

The end result, while painful, gave national audiences a view of exactly who Doug Pederson is as both a coach and a person. The image of Pederson embracing a clearly distraught Jeffery on the sidelines was a portrait that encapsulated the love he has for his players and the love his players have for him in return. Even in defeat, they stood together as a unit and they supported each other. That is the kind of winning culture that Doug Pederson has fostered in Philadelphia, and it’s one that has plenty of more room to grow.

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