Cover photo taken from KRON4.
Welcome to 32 Teams in 32 Days, a daily series leading up to kickoff of the 2025 NFL season where I preview every team in the league as decided by a wheel spin and project what their season will look like. You can keep up with everything right here.
We round out the NFC East with the defending Super Bowl champions (sigh) as the Eagles look to run it back after one of the more dominant seasons we’ve seen in several years.
I was always dreading this one, but I’m not evil. I’ll give a team flowers when they deserve it.
Philadelphia was incredible last year. They were a more-than-deserving champion, which they unequivocally showed in a 40-22 shellacking of the Chiefs in the Super Bowl — one of the worst beatdowns we’ve ever witnessed. Their defense was elite, their offense was a well-oiled machine and it all culminated in the franchise’s second ring in the last eight seasons. I have my own qualms with the quarterback and head coach, but it’s hard to keep complaining when the results are what they are.
It was all thanks to a remarkable offseason. After the embarrassing end to 2023, GM Howie Roseman cleaned house, brought in fantastic replacements and rebuilt a decimated defense in a matter of months. Hiring Kellen Moore as OC and Vic Fangio at DC, drafting studs like Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and Jalyx Hunt. Signing key veterans like Mekhi Becton and Zack Baun to bolster the offensive line and front seven.
But one newcomer stood out above the rest: Saquon Barkley. We all knew how talented of a back he was in New York, but injuries and bad teams seemed to derail what could’ve been a truly generational career. Well, turns out when you go to a well-run organization with a killer offensive line, your fortunes can change. Barkley cashed in a massive contract and Offensive Player of the Year honors after a ridiculous 2,005-yard, 13-touchdown season and truly elevated this team to be the contender they were.
The Eagles offense has been great since Jalen Hurts emerged as the player he is now, but the star RB proved to be the missing piece to get them over the top, especially in a tumultuous passing season. Hurts was up and down in the regular season and frankly awful in his first two playoff games, but in the NFC Championship and Super Bowl, he was spectacular. It was a microcosm of the season; Philly was 14th in dropback success rate while ranking first in rushing EPA.
It’s not like the passing offense was abysmal or anything. That would be hard to accomplish with AJ Brown and Devonta Smith out wide, who combined for nearly 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns. And of course, the offensive line was the key to it all, ranking eighth in pass block win rate and third in run block win rate. Kellen Moore dipped out to take the HC job in New Orleans, so we’ll see what new OC Kevin Patullo has cooked up for this offense.
But the Eagles don’t win the Super Bowl without the resurgent defense, which found new life under Fangio and it’s mix of new vets and rookies. In the EPA/play department, the Birds went from 29th to 3rd, culminating in a dominant playoff run in which they forced the most turnovers of any team ever in a single postseason. Jalen Carter has emerged as one of the league’s best tackles, Nolan Smith has developed into a star pass rusher, Baun was a DPOY candidate at linebacker and the duo of Mitchell and DeJean fortified the secondary as a lockdown one.
They were as well-rounded as a team could be; in fact, only Philadelphia and Denver ranked in the top-10 in pass block/rush win rate and run block/stop win rate. Dominant in the trenches, suffocating on the backend and deadly with their skill position group.
The only question: can they sustain it for another season? A lot of key pieces are gone: Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Darius Slay and Mekhi Becton all left in free agency while guys like Landon Dickerson and Nakobe Dean are dealing with injuries. Most of the key stars remain in place, but it might take a minute to figure things out with some newer moving parts.
The good news is that those new parts are pretty damn good, too. The strategy of investing in a young defense continued as Philly drafted studs Jihaad Campbell and Andrew Mukuba in the first two rounds as well as potentially valuable depth pieces like Ty Robinson, Mac McWilliams, Antwaun Powell-Ryland and yet another Georgia Bulldog in Smael Mondon. To be honest, as long as Vic Fangio is coaching the defense, I don’t really have any doubts about them.
This is a team that’s built to sustain the success it had a year ago. There are superstars and All-Pros everywhere you look. It’s hard to say anyone in the league is currently better than Philadelphia, and even if you were to argue a team like Baltimore or Buffalo, I’d unfortunately have to point to the ring.
Yeah, this sucks.
X-Factor: Defensive Newcomers
I already touched on it, but there’s more key turnover on defense than offense. A lot of guys are being thrust into starting roles: Hunt replaces Sweat, Jordan Davis replaces Milton Williams, Kelee Ringo repalces Darius Slay and Sydney Brown replaces CJ Gardner-Johnson. If the young guns are up to the test, then this unit shouldn’t see too much of a falloff. But, again, it might take a little bit of time to figure it out.
Team MVP: LT Jordan Mailata/RT Lane Johnson
Not what you were expecting? Maybe it should’ve been. Mailata and Johnson form perhaps the best tackle duo I’ve ever seen and fortify a top-5 offensive line in football with complete and utter dominance on the ends of the line. Just to put things in perspective: Johnson was fifth in pass block win rate and ranked 6th in pass blocking among tackles by PFF while Mailata was 14th and 2nd, respectively. That’s simply ridiculous. The interior of this offensive line is also crazy good, so I don’t want to discount guys like Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens, but it’s because of these two that Jalen Hurts rarely gets touched and Saquon Barkley gets to run wild. They are the straw that stirs the drink.
Breakout Candidate: LB Jalyx Hunt
I was having trouble picking between Hunt and Jordan Davis for this spot, but I went with the 2023 third-round pick because of what I’ve seen from him every time he’s thrust into action: immediate impact. I have no doubt that Davis is going to be a stud alongside his college teammate Jalen Carter on the interior of the defensive line (good luck running on these guys), but I think Hunt is going to emerge as the team’s best pass rusher. He had as many sacks in the playoffs as he did in the regular season, and with a starting role, I expect that number to skyrocket towards double digits in 2025.
Record Prediction: 13-4
I expect this regular season to go a lot like 2024: a 2-2 start with a loss at Tampa Bay before rattling off 10 wins in a row, losing in Week 16 at Washington, but still winning the division. This time, though, I have the Eagles getting the 1-seed in the NFC (and likely getting back to the Super Bowl, but we’ll save that for later). The infrastructure is too sound on offense, and the defense is still remarkably talented. Yes, I have my own set of concerns with the quarterback, and the offense could take a step back with a new play-caller, but the Eagles are simply a self-sustaining machine. They should sleepwalk back to the playoffs, and assuming the Commanders don’t go nuclear (God, please prove me wrong), they should become the NFC East’s first repeat champion in two decades.
Next up: 
New Orleans Saints
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