Numbers don’t flat-out lie, but they can be mischievous and conniving. So much so that there are times we’ll give an unexpected data point a long, cold stare before deciding whether to believe what we’re being told.
Such is the case of the Philadelphia Eagles, proud and deserving owners of the last perfect record in the entire league, positioned tall at 4-0 and with a “couldn’t care less” attitude toward anyone wishing to dismiss their status as an early-season anomaly.
The Eagles weren’t many people’s idea of a 2022 pace-setter. Not at this level, staying perfect long beyond the time when the Bills and the Chiefs and the Packers and the Buccaneers and the Rams — and every other darn team — fell victim to the reality that this unpredictable league will find a way to chop you at the knees sooner or later.
Yet here it is; momentum in Philly starting to grow and belief sprouting anew. Not because things have gone seamlessly so far. But because they haven’t, yet the wins have kept coming regardless.
“I don’t think anybody can beat us right now,” running back Miles Sanders told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Everybody’s beatable, but if we lose, we’ll be beating ourselves.”
The numerous ways in which Philly has prevailed contributed to their sense of invincibility. Sunday, it was a running-game feast, Sanders having a career day with 134 yards and a pair of scores. Other times it has been all about Jalen Hurts pinging it about with fearlessness and poise on his way to an NFC Offensive Player of the Month award. Or defensive resoluteness. Or game-tilting moments of inspiration.
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Next Sunday’s visit to the Arizona Cardinals (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App) will provide the latest test to Sanders’ theory, but you can see why he would feel that way. The Eagles had early hiccups, but unlike everyone else, haven’t allowed themselves to be knocked out of stride.
Philadelphia’s victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday wasn’t the typical afternoon stroll so many have enjoyed against Jacksonville these past couple of years.
In sideways rain, nursing a slate of injuries headlined by star cornerback Darius Slay and a pair of offensive linemen, the Eagles fell two touchdowns behind to the Jaguars, whose coach Doug Pederson quite rightly had a point to prove due to his history in Philly.
The revival wasn’t thunderous or spectacular or even particularly noteworthy. It was calm, thorough and inevitable, a slow turning of the defensive pressure that forced multiple errors, level-headed management from Hurts that paid respect to the filthy conditions.
“That’s the mentality we have as a football team regardless of the circumstance,” Hurts said afterward. “Control what you can, do your job, execute, you tend to do good things. This team didn’t flinch, we persevered. We found a way. We were unwavering in the way we played. Nothing was able to deny us.
“That’s our goal, to be efficient in everything we can do. We’ve found out a lot about this football team, I think, in terms of being steadfast and controlling what we (can).”
It is quite possible that time will show the Eagles are not the best team in the NFL, and their record isn’t the truest reflection of how things stand. Maybe they have caught some opponents at a low point. Maybe there has been some good fortune along the way. And, yes, a kickoff schedule of Detroit, Minnesota, Washington and Jacksonville undeniably skews soft.
But what Philly coach Nick Sirianni has prioritized is building a resilient team capable of shrugging off the customary bumps in the road and coming back firing.
He has given Hurts ample chance to shine while accepting that in his third season, the 24-year-old will still make some mistakes. Sirianni believes the good will outweigh the bad if Hurts is supported properly, and it is manifesting that way.
Sirianni’s composure has elicited comparisons to former coach Pederson, who led the team to its 2017 Super Bowl title and remains a beloved figure in Philly, where it is rare for any member of the opposition to be greeted with anything other than boos. Pederson was received with warmth, gratitude, and cheers.
“In his return to Philadelphia, Doug Pederson got the reception and recognition he deserved, only to have his old team take its latest and most impressive step toward matching what he achieved,” the Inquirer’s Mike Sielski wrote. “Hell of a run then. Hell of a shot now.”
There is something going on in Philadelphia, but despite the local optimism, the bandwagon isn’t exactly being overrun with passengers. Philly is a place that fully embraces the us-against-the-world mentality, meaning it has never held much love for the national media. Any slight is readily and enthusiastically jumped upon.
Take this, then, however you like. Four weeks is too small a sample size, with too many variables, to say for certain that any team is the best in the league, even if their record stands clearly above the pack.
But we can state this without fear of looking silly — the Eagles are football’s toughest and most composed unit right now. The numbers aren’t lying here. They just, as ever, don’t tell the full story.
