Eagles
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Philadelphia sports fans know very well that a Super Bowl season has to be perfect. In this case, perfect does not mean that nothing can go wrong; rather it means that nothing that the team is incapable of overcoming can go wrong.
The 2017 season was perfect, not because Carson Wentz tore his ACL, but because the team rallied around Nick Foles and embraced the underdog mentality. The 2024 season was perfect, not because they lost two of their first four, but because the team addressed their shortcomings and made the adjustments that led to their eventual success.
The 2026 Philadelphia Eagles clearly look good on paper, but will they claim the Lombardi Trophy? Only time will tell. Here is a list of the four fatal flaws that, if they were to occur, would derail the Eagles beyond repair:
Injuries Destroy Everything
Nobody likes injuries. In the grand scheme of the NFL, the Eagles have been quite fortunate in terms of injuries in the Jalen Hurts era.
Hurts has never missed more than two games in a season. Saquon Barkley has never been held out of a game due to injury as an Eagle. DeVonta Smith has missed four total games across five years in the pros.
Luckily, the Eagles have a formidable offensive line that is more likely to keep Hurts out of trouble than other lines around the league. However, there are no guarantees, especially considering Hurts’s tendency to scramble and take more hits than the typical pocket passer.
If the Eagles get unlucky with injuries in 2026, their Super Bowl run ends before it can get off the ground.
Mannion Falls Flat
The Eagles have had their fair share of unsuccessful offensive playcallers.
Brian Johnson removed every shred of creativity that Shane Steichen brought, and Eagles fans had déjà vu with Kevin Patullo replacing Kellen Moore only two years after the first tragic offensive incident. The Eagles are hoping to strike gold in 2026 with Sean Mannion.
Mannion, the 34-year-old former career backup has quickly become one of the most intriguing offensive minds in the National Football League. However, intriguing does not necessarily imply good.
Sean Mannion watches practice during Eagles’ training camp.Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Playcalling is an art, not a science, and it is an art that Sean Mannion has no experience with. If he doesn’t have a knack for it, the Eagles will not be able to overcome the failure, and they will head back to the offensive drawing board in 2027.
Positional Coaches Are Severely Missed
“NFL” really stands for “Not For Long”.
Everything great must eventually move on, and the Eagles experienced that firsthand this offseason. Jeff Stoutland, the legendary offensive line coach and run game coordinator, announced he’d be stepping away from the Eagles in February of 2026.
In the past ten years, the Stoutland-coached o-line had never ranked below tenth in the league, and they have developed the dominant play known as the tush push. Stoutland’s former position is now held by former NFL offensive lineman Chris Kuper, who has big shoes to fill.
Chris Kuper as Vikings’ offensive line coach in January 2025.Credit: USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
Luckily for Kuper, he has inherited a wealth of talented players. Four of five starters, Jordan Mailata, Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, and Cam Jurgens, are multi-time pro-bowlers.
Another coaching casualty for the Eagles was Christian Parker, the team’s former defensive backs coach. Parker, who was originally thought to be Vic Fangio’s successor, has now found his home in Dallas as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.
Interestingly, half of the defensive coordinator jobs in the NFC East are taken by former Eagles’ defensive backs coaches heading into the 2026 season. Dennard Wilson, who coached for the dominant 2022 defense, is now the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, who will come to town in November.
The Eagles have had overwhelming success with developing their positional coaches; the only problem is that successful positional coaches tend to climb the coaching ladder extremely quickly.
If the Eagles cannot replicate the success of their former offensive and defensive positional coaches, they will struggle to put together a contending season. However, if they can continue to churn out successful coaches, they will pick up right where they left off.
One Bad Day
The undefeated New England Patriots were unbeatable, until they weren’t.
It can be infuriating, but any NFL team can beat any other NFL team on any given Sunday. The Eagles could be dominant. They could have no quantifiable flaws. But they could still have one bad day and lose.
And isn’t that what makes sports beautiful?
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I’m a high school student from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and an aspiring sports media professional. I may have only recently … More about Jonah Casel
Categorized:Eagles
