5 reasons for optimism and concern as Eagles enter playoffs

5 reasons for optimism and concern as Eagles enter playoffs originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Do the Eagles have another Super Bowl run in them? We'll find out soon enough.

This has been an up-and-down season for the Eagles but they still won the NFC East, will host a home playoff game and still have an opportunity to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

The playoffs begin for the Birds next week when they host the 49ers in the wild-card round on Sunday afternoon.

Here are five reasons for optimism and five concerns as they head into the playoffs:

Reasons for optimism

1. This is a championship-level defense

The Eagles played their backups in Week 18 so let's take that game out of the equation for a moment. After the Eagles came back from their Week 9 bye week through Week 17, the Eagles gave up just 14.5 points per game over the course of an eight-game span. And they just pass the eye test. This is a very good defense at all three levels. Their pass rush has come alive over the last couple months and Jalen Carter finally looked like himself in Week 17. At linebacker, Zack Baun has been very solid all season. Nakobe Dean has given the Eagles great play and could return from a hamstring injury. And in the secondary, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean have been even better in Year 2. This is a defense that plays a suffocating style of football and there should be confidence that Vic Fangio's side of the ball will keep it up in the playoffs.

2. The Eagles are healthy and rested

The downside to resting the starters in Week 18 was that the Eagles failed to win and missed their chance to improve their seeding. But they kept their starters healthy. There's a legitimate chance the Eagles will have 21 of 22 starters healthy entering the playoffs this season. The only guy who we know won't be on the field is rookie safety Drew Mukuba, but you can make an argument that Marcus Epps has been even steadier this season. There are still some question marks about health. Will Lane Johnson (foot), Nakobe Dean (hamstring) and Epps (concussion) all be able to play in this game? We'll see. But there's a good chance they will. Getting Johnson back will be a huge boost. It's also worth noting that Jalen Hurts is healthy going into the playoffs, which certainly hasn't been the case in many years prior. Beyond being healthy, the Eagles should also be rested going into the playoffs. Most of the starters got Week 18 off and players like Jordan Mailata stressed the importance of that rest from a physical and mental standpoint. The 49ers, by the way, had a tough battle against the Seahawks in Week 18.

3. Jalen Hurts is battle-tested

Say what you want about Jalen Hurts, but the Eagles' starting quarterback does seem to have the clutch gene. It shouldn't go unsaid that two of his best games in the NFL have come in the two Super Bowls he has played. In his playoff career, Hurts has a 6-3 record with 10 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. His playoff passer rating of 95.4 is actually higher than his regular season passer rating of 94.4. And since his awful game in Tampa in 2021, Hurts has been really good in the playoffs. In his eight playoff games since the 2022 postseason, Hurts has a 6-2 record, completing 69.5% of his passes with 9 touchdowns, 1 interception and a passer rating of 102.5. And during both of the Eagles' Super Bowl runs, Hurts has been a rushing threat too. He averaged 47.7 yards per game in 2022 and 48.5 yards per game in 2024 with 5 touchdowns on the ground in each of those runs. The Eagles need to brush off those QB runs with a healthy Hurts in these playoffs.

4. They still have offensive weapons

The Eagles' offense has underperformed all season but the reason it has been so frustrated is because they have talent. And they still have talent. Despite all the offensive struggles this season, the Eagles still ended up with a 1,100-yard running back, two 1,000-yard receivers and a tight end who had 11 touchdown catches. This offense is far from perfect - heck, at times it has looked far from average - but there has to be a hope that guys like Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert are still able to win their matchups and make plays in the playoffs. The Eagles' scheme and play-calling hasn't helped maximize their talent this season but sometimes talent still wins out.

5. There's no elite team in the NFC

The NFC is pretty wide open this year. Are the Eagles a flawed team? Heck yeah. But so are the other six teams in the NFC playoffs with them. The Seahawks are the favorites to come out of the conference, via FanDuel, but even they're flawed. Go through every team:

1-seed Seahawks: Do you really have faith in Sam Darnold in January?
2-seed Bears: They just lost to the Lions at home in a game they wanted to win and have a relatively inexperienced QB.
3-seed Eagles: Well, you know.
4-seed Panthers: They were 8-9 this season and needed help to win the NFC South.
5-seed Rams: Lost 2 of their last 3 games and have lost three times to the Eagles since start of 2024
6-seed 49ers: They were beaten by Seattle in Week 18 in tough game and their defense is weak
7-seed Packers: They lost the last 4 games in the regular season and lost Micah Parsons to an ACL tear

Reasons for concern

1. The play-caller and offense are suspect

You've watched the offense all year. You know. The Eagles are far too talented to finish the regular season 19th in scoring, 24th in yards and 13th in EPA/play. This should be - at minimum - at top 10 offense and it isn't close to that. The 3-and-outs have killed this offense; they've had more than any team in the NFL this season. Some of these problems predate the promotion of Kevin Patullo to offensive coordinator but his performance in that role has clearly exacerbated the problems. It's impossible to know exactly how a play-caller is going to perform in that position because so much of it just has to be feel. The Eagles were hoping that Patullo would be good at it and he just hasn't been. While Nick Sirianni has publicly backed Patullo his actions say otherwise. Late in the season, Sirianni became more involved with the offense during the week, and after a dismal second-half performance in Buffalo, Sirianni admitted that he needs to be more assertive with play-calling direction between series. Maybe Sirianni can help but the fact that he needs to step in is troubling.

2. They can't lean on the run

Last week when asked why he's still confident in the offense, left tackle Jordan Mailata mentioned that the Eagles' offense has been doubted before. And that's true. But just one element of the offense was being doubted going into the playoffs last year. There was legitimate concern about the Eagles' passing offense in 2024 but at least they were able to rely on their rushing attack. This was a team that had a 2,000-yard back in 2024. This year? They desperately want to be a great running team but they just haven't been. While Saquon Barkley doesn't appear to be the issue, the offensive line just hasn't been nearly as good. Some of that is likely injuries or the cumulative effect of injuries combined with a heavy workload. Maybe the week of rest takes care of that but there's also a very good chance things aren't going to turn around for this playoff run.

3. Jake Elliott has been slumping

Elliott was able to make his final three field goals of the regular season, including two in Buffalo in miserable conditions. So he should have some confidence going into the playoffs. But it has not been a good year for the Eagles' veteran kicker. In the regular season, Elliott made just 20 of 27 kicks and was just 4-for-8 from 50+ and is just 1-for-5 from 50+ since Week 2. There were 26 kickers this season to attempt 25+ field goals and Elliott's make rate of 74.1% ranked dead last among them. Of course, Elliott does deserve the benefit of the doubt because he has been very good in his career in the playoffs. In 15 career playoff games, Elliott has made 26 of 27 attempts in the postseason and was 10-for-11 in the playoffs last year.

4. Slim margin for error on defense

The Eagles' defense has been great over the last couple of months but there will be a lot of pressure on that side of the football entering the playoffs. Because of the concerns on offense, the margin for error on defense is very slim. You can win football games like that in January but it doesn't mean it'll be easy. There's now pressure on the Eagles' defense to be close to perfect to try to win games in the teens and they are going to face some good offenses in the playoffs, starting with the 49ers in the wild-card round.

5. The path is not as easy as before

The Eagles had an opportunity to get the No. 2 seed in the NFC but lost in Week 18 to the Commanders. Had the Eagles gotten that 2-seed, they would have been guaranteed two home playoff games had they advanced. And if you remember last year, the Eagles won both of those home playoff games and then got lucky when the Commanders beat the Lions in Detroit to give them home-field advantage for the NFC Championship Game. This year, the Eagles will host the 49ers in the wild-card round, which is a tough game. And then they'll likely either have to travel to Chicago for the divisional round game or host the Rams. It's fair to wonder which of those outcomes is better for the Eagles. The Eagles can definitely still come out of the NFC but it probably won't be as easy a path as they saw in 2024.