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The Eagles are in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years, but it’s hard to envision a more circuitous route for a team to have so much success in a short period of time.
Philadelphia followed up its loss to Kansas City two years ago by starting last season 10-1, only to lose six of its last seven games — including a wild-card loss to Tampa Bay.
Then, they started this year 2-2, with head coach Nick Sirianni’s job believed to be in jeopardy — and things hardly got better following a narrow home win over hapless Cleveland that was immediately followed by Sirianni arguing with a fan near the team’s bench late in the game.
But that win turned out to be the first of 10 consecutive victories for the Eagles, who have won 15 of their last 16 games heading into next weekend’s Super Bowl rematch against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Here’s a look at what changed in Philadelphia to bring them back from the abyss and instead on their way to New Orleans:
— Jalen Hurts went from average to excellent.
Through the team’s first four games, Hurts threw for 930 yards, but had just four touchdown passes to go along with four interceptions.
He also had been sacked 13 times and had rushed 42 times for 163 yards (3.8 yards per carry), two TDs and three lost fumbles. It added up to a QB rating of 85.7.
In each of the first four games, Hurts threw at least 30 passes.
After the Eagles came back from their bye week, he’s done so just once.
Hurts started the next 10 games after the bye, and though he didn’t throw for the same amount of yardage, just about everything else improved.
In those 10 games — all wins — Hurts threw for 14 TDs and just one interception.
He was sacked just 25 times and he ran for 4.06 yards per carry, as well as a dozen touchdowns, to go along with only a pair of lost fumbles for a rating of 114.
Hurts’ streak ended when he was knocked out of Philadelphia’s loss to Washington in Week 15 with a concussion, an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the regular season.
Since returning from the concussion, he’s been nearly as good, with 505 yards in the Eagles’ three playoff wins, to go along with three touchdown passes and no turnovers for a QB rating of 105. He has been sacked 11 times, the most in the postseason.
— Saquon Barkley went from good to great.
Unlike Hurts, Barkley didn’t really struggle early on, but he probably wasn’t making John Mara lose any sleep yet.
After a rough Week 5 in a win over Cleveland, Barkley had rushed for 482 yards and four touchdowns.
At nearly 100 yards per game, most teams and running backs would sign up for that.
But it wasn’t until a Week 6 win against — you guessed it — the Giants that Barkley really took off and the Eagles began to use him more to take some pressure off Hurts.
In that 28-3 rout at the Meadowlands, Barkley rushed for a then-season-high 176 yards on just 17 carries, as well as a TD. That opened an 11-game stretch in which Barkley rushed for an average of 138.4 yards before he sat out the regular-season finale with Eric Dickerson’s rushing record in sight.
In three postseason games, Barkley has more rush attempts (66), yards (442) and rushing TDs (5) than anyone else in the league.
— A.J. Brown got healthy. After catching five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown in a 34-29 Week 1 win over Green Bay, Brown missed the next three games with a hamstring injury.
Not surprisingly, the offense suffered as the Eagles lost two of those games and averaged 17.3 points.
He returned in a Week 5 win over the Browns with six catches, 116 yards and a TD.
And though he didn’t have to do much in playoff wins over the Packers and Rams, Brown had 96 receiving yards and a TD in the NFC Championship against Washington.
— On defense, they gave up 237 passing yards per game, as well as seven passing touchdowns against just two interceptions and a 93.1 QB rating, as well as 5.0 yards per carry through their first four games.
Over the last 13 weeks of the regular season, Vic Fangio’s defense stiffened and allowed just 154.8 passing yards, 15 TDs and 11 INTs for a rating of 79.0, all while limiting the run game to 4.0 yards per carry.
— Their schedule lightened up. Following the Week 4 loss to the Buccaneers, the Eagles faced teams that missed the playoffs for five straight weeks (the Browns, Giants, Bengals, Jaguars and Cowboys) and won each game.
By the time they played another postseason-bound team, Washington in Week 11, they were 7-2.
— Even though Sirianni was back after last year’s collapse, many of his coaches were not, including both the offensive and defensive coordinators.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that players on both sides of the ball would become more comfortable under new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio following the first handful of games — as well as the bye week.
