Philadelphia Eagles fans may have been wrong about one particular theory

Is it possible that Philadelphia Eagles fans were a little off on one theory?

They may not always agree with each other or with the people who get paid to cover sports daily, but Philadelphia Eagles fans know their football. Lately, with everyone having to adjust how they go about life and with so many people spending more time at home, many of us have reached out to friends and family that we haven’t seen in a while. That means the conversations about the “what-ifs” from an Eagles standpoint have been brought up a little more frequently than they have in recent years.

These days, Carson Wentz, the NFL schedule, and just how good this Eagles team can be are among the popular topics. Then, there’s the NFC East. Anything concerning the Dallas Cowboys is good for a nice debate. Does Dak Prescott deserve what he thinks he deserves contractually? Does his presence on the so-called “America’s Team” actually give the Eagles an advantage? Is the NFC East a two-team race?

Then, there’s this. Many have used the argument that the Eagles’ consistency might benefit them and give them an advantage in the NFC East during the 2020 campaign. They’re the only team in the division that didn’t make a change at head coach, but maybe we’ve overlooked the other changes they’ve made on both sides of the ball.

ESPN says the Philadelphia Eagles are among the NFL’s lower half in terms of continuity.

Recently, ESPN ranked all 32 NFL teams from top to bottom in terms of continuity from 2019’s season to 2020’s version. The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs lead the way at number one and number two respectively. The champs return just about their entire starting lineup from 2019. The Eagles? Well, they’re actually in the bottom half of the league at number 23.

Sure, the didn’t make a head-coaching change, but they only return nine starters on offense, six on defense, and three special teams. They return 76.7 percent of their offensive snaps from a season ago and 64.1 percent of their defensive snaps. That makes them 18th in the league and 23rd in the league in both categories.

Before you hang your head, it’s important to mention that those stats could be a little misleading. Much of the goal in 2020 for Philly was to get more explosive and younger. They also wanted to upgrade a few offensive and defensive positions. It appears they’ve done both.

Sure, they lost Ronald Darby, but they gained Darius Slay. Nelson Agholor is gone, but Philly got Marquise Goodwin, and they drafted Jalen Reagor, Quez Watkins, and John Hightower. The loss of Nigel Bradham, Jordan Howard, and Malcolm Jenkins will hurt, but Philly seems to have a plan in place with the likes of T.J. Edwards, Shaun Bradley, Boston Scott, Elijah Holyfield, Jalen Mills, and K’Von Wallace.

The Eagles will look a little different in 2020, but we all expected that. Fear not Eagles fans. The “lack of continuity” in this case is a good thing. Keep your fingers crossed. This may be a season where injuries are fewer and big plays come in abundance.