They’ll be back.
Gut feeling. First thought. Initial reaction. Yeah, they’ll be back.
The New England Patriots? No. Heck, no. The Philadelphia Eagles.
When taking a peak into one’s own prophetic synopsis, that’s what pops up right here.
Yep. Eagles back in the Super Bowl following the 2018 season, set to defend their first NFL title since 1960.
Against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Repeating as champs.
With Nick Foles, again, the MVP.
Hey, just relaying the info, Carson Wentz crusaders. Don’t kill the messenger.
Kidding aside, that is the end-game scenario that plays out right now in the head behind these words.
Frankly, just see the Patriots as done. For real. The dye has been cast by the NFL, it seems, with things going off script for the first time in close to two decades during Sunday night’s stunner in Minneapolis.
Stunner not because of the Eagles winning against New England on the sporting world’s biggest stage, but because of how they won – in Patriots fashion, even getting the benefit of calls. How unbelievably Patriots-like was that?
As for next season, hey, Pittsburgh has more talent up and down its roster anyway, so it’s not exactly a crazy idea to think that it would dethrone Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, if, indeed, they return as a tandem anyway, as AFC champs.
Take away a ridiculous overturn of a Steelers touchdown when the two squads squared off in late December and that tale likely would have been written this time around.
The Eagles? Well, repeating in the NFC may be an adventurous task, especially with Wentz coming back from knee surgery and Foles proving that, despite his detractors and disbelievers, he can perform like a star.
The vibe here is that Wentz won’t be quite the same his first season back. That he’ll need more time to round back into form, and get back to the way he was in becoming the league’s MVP frontrunner before going down in the team’s 13th game.
Enter Foles, due to either physical or performance issues for Wentz, and enjoy another run like the one just completed, Eagles fans.
Dude can play, at a very high level. No, he isn’t Wentz. But he is a better leader than most credit him as being. A better athlete, too.
He also does one thing better than Wentz: Throw the ball.
Better touch. Better accuracy. Better spin in terms of making it more catchable – not that every catchable one he throws results in a catch.
If we’re being honest here, that 28-for-43, 373-yard, 3-TD passing effort wasn’t exactly aided by the greatest display of hands display. Wideout Torrey Smith dropped three balls, tight end Zach Ertz one and Alshon Jeffrey another two, not to mention he somehow turned a 40-yard aerial from Foles, deftly deposited in the receiver’s right arm, into an interception at the New England 2.
Change those things around and Foles, statistically, would have put on a show unmatched by anyone, including Brady.
Don’t see anything less from him the next time around either.