Philadelphia Eagles: Next NFL Team to Win Their First Super Bowl?
A Super Bowl championship is arguably one of the hardest for a player to win. Shockingly, over 40% of the active NFL franchises have never, in its 49 year history, won a Super Bowl. Among those teams are: the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, and the Minnesota Vikings. Also, three teams have never made an appearance at any point in their history: Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Detroit Lions.
Eagles
The Eagles perceive to have the upper hand in winning their first Super Bowl over the other franchises still searching for a Lombardi Trophy. The mystery that is Chip Kelly has placed a great deal of hype around both the locker-room and the city, even greater than usual. The biggest hindrance from Kelly raising that Lombardi Trophy down Broad Street is the quarterback situation.
Whether or not Sam Bradford is “the guy” to lead the offense is yet to be seen, but teammates are praising his arm strength and accuracy as OTAs rap up. They have started to build the young nucleus of receivers with Zach Ertz, Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor to go with an experienced back-field comprised of DeMarco Murray, Ryan Matthews and Darren Sproles. Every one excels in some way when they enter the Chip Kelly offense, so it should be fun to see how guys like Agholor, Murray and Ryan Matthews adjust to this new NFL system.
Oct 5, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly on the sidelines against the St. Louis Rams during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey G. Pittenger-USA TODAY Sports
On the other side of the ball, they have arguably the best front-sevens in the game with talented, young pass-rushers and linebackers; the majority of whom should be with the team for the long-haul. While the secondary is still a puzzle, drafting Eric Rowe was a great first step. Hopefully the play and leadership of veterans Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond help advance the quality of the defensive back-fields play.
Of course, there’s several opinions in this topic area. Members of the NFL Mocks crew brought a couple different teams to the table. Here are some of their personal opinions on which team is next to win its first Super Bowl.
Matthew Holowiak
This might sound nuts, but I’m saying Jacksonville. The whole team is right around the same age and will all develop together, much like Seattle did.
Erik Lambert
I have to say the Arizona Cardinals. I’m a big believer in Bruce Arians and what he’s doing down there. If he can get any sort of stability from the quarterback position, that franchise may finally break through.
Chris Dogherty
If any team out of this group makes it, it’s the Buffalo Bills… Rex took a weaker defensive team to TWO straight AFC title games, and has a more potent offense than he had in NYJ. The Bills are seriously going to be a force to be reckoned with moving forward.
Joe Wedra
Panthers oddly enough aren’t far. [They] will appear in one during the Cam [Newton] era.