What Needs to Happen for this Season to be a Success for the Philadelphia Eagles?

The Philadelphia Eagles have undergone a host of changes this offseason but what needs to be done for this season to be considered a success?

While the general consensus is that the Philadelphia Eagles will be a bad team that probably finishes the season around 7-9 the season wouldn’t be a failure if they miss the playoffs. With Doug Pederson, Jim Schwartz, and Frank Reich all implementing new systems, it will take time for the team to get up to speed. That will lead to some ugly early season results but by the second half of the season, the Eagles should look like a totally different team.

There are still positional battles to sort out, mainly in the secondary that will have a major impact on the performance of the team and they will take until the end of the preseason to fully sort out. The Philadelphia Eagles will field an improved team from last year but it’s hard to judge to what extent.

There are a lot of variables that surround them heading into this season. Will Nelson Agholor break out? Can Sam Bradford be a competent quarterback? How improved will the defense be? Is Doug Pederson the real deal? Each of these questions can only be answered with another question until there is hard data (live NFL games) to back them up. So what we’re going to do is cook up a Fourth of July recipe for a successful season for the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Add a sprinkle of a game manager at quarterback.

For the Eagles to win this season they don’t necessarily need Sam Bradford to win them games. What they need is for Bradford to not lose games for the team. Last season, Bradford accounted for 17 turnovers in 14 games played. He consistently forced the defense into short fields and bad situations which can’t happen this season. It’s impressive that the Eagles had a middle of the road offense with him leading the charge last season.

Imagine what they could have done if he was able to limit their turnovers essentially being what Alex Smith was to Doug Pederson‘s former team, the Kansas City Chiefs. If he can do that (a big if) the Eagles may be in for something special. The Eagles already have a receiving core that’s suited to Bradford’s short yardage game as well as an improved line to keep him upright. But Bradford as a game manager won’t work without…

…Mixing in an effective run game.

To run a Doug Pederson offense a team needs to have effective runners and the Chiefs had a few of the best with Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis. While the Eagles don’t have a running back as talented as Charles they do have an interesting combination with Ryan Matthews, Darren Sproles, and Wendell Smallwood. The Philadelphia Eagles also have an offensive line that ranked third in run blocking last year to open lanes for their runners.

Ryan Matthews looks like he’ll be the starter but it remains to be seen what he can do with an increased workload.Last season, Matthews ran for 539 yards in 13 games (six starts) and compiled 685 yards from scrimmage. Matthews averaged five yards per rush and scored seven touchdowns for the Philadelphia Eagles in a limited role. If he can translate these numbers into a full season workload the offense will click on all cylinders. But the offense means nothing without…

…The defense slamming the door.

The defense was bad for the Philadelphia Eagles last season so bad that there aren’t enough words to describe how bad they were so here are numbers to illustrate the point. In 2015, the Philadelphia Eagles had the 28th ranked scoring defense by allowing teams to average 26.9 points per game. That’s an unacceptable number that’s going to cost a team a lot of games. The Philadelphia Eagles allowed 30+ points in five games and in three of those they allowed 40+ points. (Have you fainted from disgust yet?)

A slight improvement from those numbers and the Eagles finish the season over .500 which would be enough to make everyone happy. Schwartz’s teams create pressure through their front sevens and the Eagles have a good one. With more pressure coming from the defensive end the Eagles could be able to dramatically improve their rankings.

Next: Are the Eagles Pass Catchers Good Enough?

If these things are able to happen this season the Philadelphia Eagles could be a pleasant surprise to the league. But as they say, it means nothing until the games are played so let’s get to it!