Jack Dougherty
Sports Editor
The excitement surrounding the 2013-2014 Philadelphia Eagles team is understandable. A new coach, a new offense, and a new confidence are all intriguing reasons to fall back in love with the team that breaks our hearts almost every year, it seems. The amount of hype that circles the Eagles is insanely higher than that of any other team in the National Football League, and there is no secret as to why this occurs. The fact is that football fans thrive on change, and the Eagles do that more often, and more excitingly than everyone else.
In 2011, it was the signings of defensive beasts Jason Babin and Nnamdi Asomugha who were supposedly the final pieces of the “Dream Team” puzzle. In 2012, the firing of Defensive Coordinator, Juan Castillo, was supposed to fix every flaw in the underachieving defense. And in 2013, the firing of head coach, Andy Reid, and the hiring of former Oregon head coach, Chip Kelly, was destined to patch up the rough spots on the team and send them to a long-awaited Super Bowl victory. None of these position changes turned out to be successful (although Chip Kelly can still prove me wrong), which brought the Philadelphia Faithful down from their short high. Avid Eagles fan, Keegan Hawkins, has experienced these ups and downs, and he chimed in on his views of the 2013 team. “Realistically, the Eagles have a 7-9 season to look forward to. But, if we look at the division now, everyone’s struggling to stay or reach .500. There’s always hope.” His sense of optimism is encouraging, but right now 7-9 might even be a stretch.
To make things worse, Andy Reid strolled back into Philadelphia at the helm of a Kansas City Chief’s team that went 2-14 the previous year, and beat the Eagles 26-16 on week 3 of the 2013 season. Reid single-handedly proved the point that the Eagles’ radical moves each season do nothing but excite the fans and bring them back to the stadium each week. It’s simple really: general manager Jeffrey Lurie and the rest of the front office has to stick with the talented team of players and coaches they have and believe in them. It won’t happen overnight, but this team will eventually become a powerhouse in the NFL. The only thing Chip Kelly should be worried about is improving the defense and special teams just to a point where they can be considered decent. A decent defense paired with their high-flying offense would be enough to take The Eagles to the playoffs, and hopefully a Super Bowl victory is in the near future.
