SEASON PREDICTION 

Super Bowl hangover was a real thing for the Eagles last year and their inept offense was enough and put fans to sleep. Barkley followed up his legendary 2,000-yard performance with a disappointing 2025 campaign barely putting up 1,000 yards on the ground. Fortunately, though they had some key departures which in my opinion were additions by subtraction. Firstly, was AJ Brown who while ridiculously talented had become a cancer to the locker room. The second key departure was their terrorist OC more formally known as Kevin Pattulo. In 2024 when Kellen Moore was the OC, they're offense was electric with Barkley running all over opposing defenses and the team finishing 5th overall in total PPG. Patullo was such a bad OC that even with the same exact star power he dropped Philadelphia all the way down to 19th in PPG. New OC Sean Mannion is generating some positive buzz and camp from the offensive stars which is a positive sign. Terrible OC coaching seems to be the only thing stopping Philadelphia from going back to a Super Bowl.  

Focusing in on the defense, Phili made sure this offseason to secure their star defensive talents to extensions. They signed Jalen Carter to a 4-year 152-million-dollar extension. They also signed their NT Jordan Davis to a 3-yearr 78-million-dollar deal and to round out the secondary in free agency they signed Riq Wollen to a 1 year 13 million dollar prove it deal. Philly will be banking on some development from their second-year free safety Andrew McCabe as this secondary has a fresh look with only Mitchell, and Dejan returning. Thankfully, Vic Fangio is returning as the defensive coordinator, so my concern for the unit is minimal due to his proven track record. His play calling ability was able to get the Eagles the first seed in NFC East and the 13th Total Defense in the league as they carried their incompetent offense all the way to an 11-6 record.   

Before transitioning to the offense, I think it's key to touch on the special teams that may cost Philadelphia this season. Last year the kicking game for the Eagles was woeful. Jake Elliot had the 2nd worst FG% in the league and went 4/8 for on kicks 50 yards or longer. Having a proven kicker versus a shaky kicker can be the difference in the playoffs and the Eagles special teams are severely lacking in the kicking department, especially in comparison to division rivals like the Cowboys.  

Switching gears to the offense, I have high hopes for a bounce back season for Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love had nothing but hate to give to Patullo last year as they saw him single-handedly eliminate any chance they had of making a Super Bowl push. This has been a revolving issue with Nick Sirianni as HC. He has proven he is unable to find consistent offensive coordinator play. Things are looking positive though with buzz around camp saying that players are excited to work under Mannion. Now whether this is a genuine statement or a PR trained response is yet to be seen but will be revealed pretty early on in the season. The strongest part of this Eagles team is their offensive line ranking second in the league and they are returning all five starters once again for 2026. As long as Mannion is adequate in his play calling, I expect Barkley to bounce back and up his YPC running behind this elite O-line. They also drafted Eli Stowers in the second round so that leads me to believe they will be running a lot of two tight end sets and pounding the rock with Barkley while designing some QB draws for Hurts. The receiving room is what everyone will be focusing on and for good reason. Their star diva receiver AJ Brown is finally gone and all the controversy is now behind them. They drafted Makai Lemon to take this place and while I do think Lemon is extremely talented, their putting a lot on his shoulders to help replace the production of the top 10 wide receiver. Furthermore, both Devonte Smith and Makai Lemon are nursing injuries which is concerning considering the season starts in only a few weeks. That's why with uncertainty in the play calling for the offense and a revamped wide receiver room that will bank on hefty improvements from Devonte Smith and a breakout Year from Lemon I have the Eagles finishing 11-6 just barely squeaking out as division winners of the NFC East.