The Philadelphia Eagles were the league’s best regular-season team in 2022 and then came within a few plays of winning the Super Bowl, so making NFL predictions for how their 2023 campaign will play out are essentially required to be on the positive side. With the majority of a deep and talented roster set to return next season, the Eagles are once again expected to be among the NFL’s elite contenders.
But what if things go wrong? Just last year, the Los Angeles Rams — months removed from winning the Lombardi Trophy — fell apart and are now entering a rebuilding process that includes shedding veterans and their contracts, providing a clear example of just how quickly things can change in the NFL.
Let’s look at the best and worst-case scenario for the Eagles in 2023 as Philadelphia aims to defend its NFC crown.
Predicting the Best-Case Scenario for the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2023 NFL Season
The best-case scenario for the Eagles in 2023 includes a Lombardi Trophy. There’s no other way around that. General manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni have built and developed a roster capable of winning it all in any year, and the path to the Super Bowl in the NFC is far less challenging than it would be in the AFC.
League-wide, only the Chiefs have better Super Bowl odds, while Kansas City and San Francisco have better odds of making the playoffs, according to DraftKings. Anything can happen once the postseason begins, but it’s nearly inconceivable that Philadelphia won’t at least make the dance.
Newly-extended QB Jalen Hurts finished second in MVP voting after posting a breakout campaign in 2022, and there’s a chance he can improve even further next season, especially as a passer. Hurts demonstrated tremendous growth between 2021 and 2022, increasing his completion percentage, touchdown rate, and yards per attempt while decreasing his turnover and turnover-worthy throw rates.
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If Hurts can augment his production as a thrower, he’ll only add to an offense that already boasted — far and away — the NFL’s top rushing offense a season ago. Miles Sanders is gone, but the Eagles took two low-risk fliers on D’Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny, each of whom might be more dynamic than Sanders. And Philadelphia is bringing four of five starters from the NFL’s most talented offensive line.
The Eagles’ defense lost several key pieces like Javon Hargrave, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and T.J. Edwards, but the cupboard has largely been restocked with younger, cheaper options like Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, and others. New coordinator Sean Desai might even figure out more creative ways to use Philadelphia’s defensive talent than former play-caller Jonathan Gannon did.
The best-case scenario for the Eagles also includes rival teams in the NFC failing to step up. Maybe the 49ers struggle to find a quarterback answer if Brock Purdy takes a while to recover from his UCL injury. The Lions could fall to launch even though everyone expects them to, or Geno Smith could back into a pumpkin for the Seahawks.
The weakness of the NFC gives Philadelphia a ton of cushion. The end of the road — facing an AFC team like the Chiefs, Bengals, or Bills in the Super Bowl — would be a lot tougher, but the Eagles proved just last season that they’re up to competing with a club like Kansas City.
Predicting the Worst-Case Scenario for the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2023 NFL Season
The worst-case scenario for the Eagles would include a serious injury to Hurts, but that’s too easy. Nearly every team in the NFL would struggle to put together a competent season without their starting quarterback on the field.
Instead, a more realistic negative outcome might be that Philadelphia’s veteran-laden roster suddenly starts to look old. The Eagles are relying on a bevy of players over the age of 30, including Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, and Darius Slay, while James Bradberry will turn 30 before the 2023 season gets underway.
Philadelphia’s secondary might be the most vulnerable area of their roster. If Slay and/or Bradberry were to go down, the Eagles would be relying on rookie Kelee Ringo or Greedy Williams for significant snaps. Meanwhile, Philadelphia no longer has Gardner-Johnson or Marcus Epps around to patrol the back end, and the Eagles’ safety unit of Terrell Edmunds and Reed Blankenship wouldn’t be as adept at making up for CB mistakes.
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However, even if a rash of injuries or poor play from Philadelphia’s veterans resulted in a down 2023 campaign, a Rams-esque situation is highly unlikely for the Eagles. Roseman hasn’t mortgaged the future like Los Angeles did to win its Super Bowl — Philadelphia still has its first-round pick in 2024, plus extra selections in the second and fourth rounds. This isn’t a team that will be forced to start selling off assets and completely remaking its roster.
One other potential concern for the Eagles? After Gannon and Shane Steichen both landed head coaching jobs over the offseason, Philadelphia will be working in two new coordinators: Desai on defense and former quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson on offense.
Both Desai and Johnson are well-respected coaches, and Johnson has been ingrained in the Eagles’ offensive transformation over the past two seasons. But there’s always a chance that one or both of those coaches doesn’t fire on all cylinders right out of the gate.