Eagles fans aren't going like this list of bold predictions ahead of 2023 NFL season
When we close the book on the 2023-2024 Philadelphia Eagles season, Nick Sirianni will have authored the best mic-drop moment of any head coach during the NFL campaign, one that's trademark worthy. Sure, we can see that happening. Guess what? It's year three of his era in the City of Brotherly Love, and for the first time since we met him, his summer begins with expectations of a Super Bowl win.
Sports fans are hilarious sometimes. On one hand, they'll tell you that the schedule must be taken with a 'game-by-game' and 'week-by-week' approach. Then, in the next breath, they'll tell you who's going to win the World Series, next year's NBA Finals, and the NFL's MVP trophy at season's end.
Here's the point. None of us play for the Eagles. The coaches and plyers on the roster are beholden to remaining focused on the current week. The front office has a different focus, the future. Fans and the media are allowed to look as far back into the past or as far ahead into the future as they like. Part of the fun in loving sports is we get to throw on our caps and be prognosticators.
Earlier in the spring, here at Inside The Iggles, we tossed out a few bold predictions for Philly's offense. Recently, SI's Conor Orr tried his hand at 100 bold predictions for the entire NFL
A theory about Malcolm Jenkins potentially announcing his bid for a high-profile political seat stands out. So does an 0-2 start for the Dallas Cowboys, Carson Wentz signing with the Green Bay Packers, and the prospect of the Buccaneers, Dolphins, Giants, Seahawks, and Vikings missing the playoffs.
None of us would have an issue with any of that. There are, however, a handful of predictions that we'd like to discuss in further detail. Some we aren't fans of. Others don't bother us as much as others, but we'd still like to throw our cents in.
A former Eagles assistant, Shane Steichen, will win the Coach of the Year award.
In case you missed the announcement, the Colts have, again, hired a former Eagles offensive coordinator to be their head coach. Orr believes Shane Steichen's era in Indy gets off to a torrid start and lands him as pro football's Coach of the Year award.
Sure, we'd be happy for him if this happens, but we're selfish. We believe Nick Sirianni is more deserving, especially seeing as how he was snubbed for the award last time around.
The streak continues as the Eagles fail to win the NFC East.
You have heard or read this statement 200 times or more already. The NFC East hasn't had a repeat champion since the Eagles won the division from 2001 to 2004, and it appears the theory is that streak will continue through the next NFL season. Here's the logic.
"This is based on nothing other than my internal sense that whenever everyone thinks the Eagles will be really good, they turn out to be just O.K. Whenever the Eagles are supposed to be just O.K., they end up being really good. Call it deep scarring from the Dream Team summer of Vince Young and Nnamdi Asomugha (who was amazing in The Good Nurse, by the way). And don’t forget this division hasn’t had a repeat winner since these Eagles way back in 2004."
- Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated
Yeah, with all due respect.. No. The NFC East will finish just as it did last season: 1. Eagles 2. Cowboys 3. Giants 4. Commanders.
Philly is ahead of the other teams in the division. If theories are true about that 0-2 start by Dallas, the Birds will get a lead on their rivals from Texas in the standings and coast to the crown regardless of what happens in that murderer's row they endure after the bye.
The Cowboys are the second-best team but have the NFC East's worst coach. The New York Giants are a fraud. The Commanders are a mess. This is Philly's division for the taking.
The Browns will acquire DeAndre Hopkins and reunite him with Deshaun Watson (We realize this bothers some of you more than others).
While most of you probably won't be bothered by this, we are very much aware that there are a lot of Eagles fans who are on the DeAndre Hopkins train. It feels like there's a zero-percent chance of his addition occurring. Yeah, we have been wrong before. Still, a reunion between Hopkins and Deshaun Watson sounds like fun. It sounds like DeAndre wants to play for a contender though.
The Cowboys will re-sign Ezekiel Elliott later on this offseason.
Ezekiel Elliott got old quickly, and he's well past his prime. There's just one issue here. During his career, he has been a nightmare when playing the Philadelphia Eagles. No wants to see him back in that ugly blue and grey jersey.
The Bengals defeat the 49ers to win Super Bowl LVIII.
The San Francisco 49ers will not represent the NFC in the next Super Bowl. Honestly, we feel they will take a step backward and the Seattle Seahawks will win the NFC West.
There's no guarantee that the Eagles will make a return trip to the Super Bowl either. Sure, we hope they will, but history just isn't on their side.
Still, if we were to pick the team that wins the NFC right now, we'd run with Philadelphia over San Francisco. That's our story. We're sticking to it.
A couple of other nuggets: Just in case you're curious, he also has Christian Gonzalez winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and Joe Buwwor winning league MVP. We're placing our money on Nolan Smith to win the former, and yes, we still believe the NFL owes Jalen Hurts a trophy from last season. We'll see what happens this time around.