The Philadelphia Eagles Are The NFC’S Best Team In 2019
In 4th and final part of my week-long 2019 NFL preview, i‘’ll examine the last of the 10 teams that really intrigue me for the 2019 season — and this team just so happens to be the team I believe will represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIV.
While you’re here, don’t forget to check out Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 of my 2019 NFL season preview as well.
As a lifelong (and thus forever miserable) fan of the Washington Redskins, asking me to say nice things about the Philadelphia Eagles is akin to asking me to lick a toilet seat at a highway rest stop.
So take that into consideration when I say that I firmly believe the Eagles are the best team in the NFC, and my pick to win the conference championship, and thus represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIV.
It’s a pretty simple calculus, really. For one, the Eagles have the best “1-through-53” roster in the conference, and are overseen by an excellent coaching staff that works with a front office that might be the class of the NFL. To put it simply, they’re absolutely loaded with talent.
The offensive personnel assembled is downright unfair. Carson Wentz is two years removed from almost winning the NFL’s MVP award, and after enjoying an offseason where he was at near-full health, he could very well be one of the front-runners for the award this year. Wentz can hand the ball to an excellent 1–2 punch at running back in Jordan Howard (who ran for 2,500 yards and 15 touchdowns over the 2016 and 2017 NFL seasons combined) and rookie 2nd round pick Miles Sanders. And when Wentz does throw the ball, he’s got a fully healthy Alshon Jeffrey, a motivated-after-coming-back-home DeSean Jackson, Nelson Agholor, rookie wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside (who could be a dangerous red zone weapon for Philadelphia), and maybe the best duo of tight ends in the NFL in Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert (the latter of whom, I believe, is already one of the top 25 tight ends in the NFL). And that’s not even mentioning the fact the Eagles have one of the five-to-seven best offensive lines in the NFL (especially after stealing Andre Dillard in the 2019 NFL Draft, as the heir apparent to Jason Peters).
And there ain’t exactly a drop-off on the defensive side of the football, either. In a 2019 offseason that saw some wild personnel moves, the Eagles might’ve made one of the most underrated acquisitions in defensive tackle Malik Jackson, who not only pairs with the best defensive tackle in the NFC not named Aaron Donald (Fletcher Cox), but also fortifies what might’ve been the strength of the Eagles team as a whole (the defensive line). The back seven on defense doesn’t quite have the same “brand name” recognition, but they still managed to steal away linebacker Zach Brown from Washington (and have the infrastructure in place to keep a knucklehead like Brown generally in line), and added depth at safety in the form of established veterans like Andrew Sendejo and Jonathan Cyprien. Those guys will play alongside stalwart safety Malcolm Jenkins, and support a group of athletic and underrated cornerbacks (keep an eye on the emergence of Sidney Jones).
Secondarily, who in the NFC is going to overtake them? It certainly won’t be anyone in the NFC East. The defending NFC Champion LA Rams? I have serious doubts. Same for the New Orleans Saints (or anyone in the NFC South, for that matter). And the defending NFC North champion Chicago Bears? HAH! Did you see that disaster of an offense yesterday evening? There isn’t a single team in the NFC who, if offered Mitch Trubisky via a trade, wouldn’t laugh and hang up the phone.
So speaking objectively, you should pound the 5:1 odds the Eagles are getting to win the NFC.
Though speaking as a Redskins fan, you have no idea how painful it was to say that many nice things about the Eagles, given that their fan base generally has the same level of public civility as monkeys flinging their feces at each other. In fact, i’d estimate that 90% of Eagles fans are best personified by that drunk uncle who’s been divorced enough times to fill a punch card (and whose kids refuse to acknowledge his existence), and still attends the family Thanksgiving gathering each year (and is somehow still invited) despite drinking excessively the whole time, making passes at your female cousins, taking too much food on his plate, and usually vomiting on said plate filled with food.
Now imagine if that uncle won the lottery. Twice. In a three-year span.
That’s what it would be like to witness the Eagles make it to the Super Bowl two times in three years.
And that’s unfortunately we may very well live in come January… so we should start preparing from now.
Week 1 NFL Picks
My picks in bold; lines courtesy of MyBookie.ag
Green Bay at Chicago (-3) — pick made Thursday evening Washington at Philadelphia (-10) Atlanta at Minnesota (-4) Buffalo at NY Jets (-2.5) San Francisco at Tampa Bay (-1) Kansas City (-3.5) at Jacksonville Tennessee at Cleveland (-5.5) LA Rams (-2.5) at Carolina Detroit (-2.5) at Arizona Cincinnati at Seattle (-9.5) Indianapolis at LA Chargers (-6.5) NY Giants at Dallas (-7.5) Pittsburgh at New England (-5.5) Houston at New Orleans (-7) Denver (-2) at Oakland Baltimore (-6.5) at Miami
Rajan Nanavati is the editor of HailToTheDistrict.com. You can follow Rajan on Twitter, find the HailToTheDistrict Podcast here, and/or view his writing archives here.