That 2-2 start feels like forever ago now. So does that implosion that marked the back half of 2023.
The Eagles moved on, gracefully so with them down in New Orleans for the Super Bowl.
But the feeling from that shaky start to the year and that disastrous collapse that preceded it the season before, they didn't forget it, nor the lessons.
"Adversity does something to you, right?" head coach Nick Sirianni told the media on Tuesday as Super Bowl Sunday against Kansas City draws closer. "If you embrace adversity, it can shape you to who you are."
And right now the Eagles have been shaped into the NFC Champions for the second time in three years, standing one rematch against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs away from the franchise's second-ever Lombardi Trophy.
Adversity does do something to a team. It can push them to greater so long as they approach it right, and so far the Eagles have aced every test, even if it hasn't always been pretty.
Sirianni endured last year's spiral and the frustrating start to this one stemming from high expectations and promise from such a talented roster. He endured all the calls for his job that came with it, too, and after a 14-3 finish to the regular season and then a rally straight through the playoffs and back to the Super Bowl, he's on the other side of it now with one more game left to go.
"We're grateful for that," Sirianni said of 2023. "We're thankful for that. As bad as it sucked at the time, I know I'm grateful for that – I speak for myself. I'm grateful for that because it shaped us into who we are now and is a big reason why we're back here sitting at this moment again. Embracing adversity is huge, for your development as a person, as a player, as a coach."
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Jalen Hurts has hit his obstacles also. Ever since the 2022 season, when he broke out as the Eagles' clear starting quarterback with MVP-level play, everything he's done since has been measured on that bell curve and he's never quite been able to consistently match it.
But he's supported by one of the strongest offensive lines in football, a star receiving duo in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, a reliable tight end in Dallas Goedert, and now superstar running back Saquon Barkley, who came in and recharged the whole unit with his ever-present ability to take off for a home-run shot.
Hurts' has had his criticism, but one way or another, he and the Eagles just keep getting the job done.
"Obviously that's been the case through Jalen and his career, but it is about embracing adversity," Sirianni said. "This game is not easy, and this game has its ups and downs. Seasons have ups and downs. From year to year has ups and downs. That's how a football game goes, right?
"Nobody in the NFL pitches a perfect game. That doesn't exist in the NFL. You're gonna have bad plays, you're gonna have good plays. It's about being able to focus your mindset on the next one."
On Sunday, the Eagles will need just a few more good ones, against a Kansas City defense in particular that's expected to throw everything it has at Hurts and Barkley.
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo runs an aggressive unit, and if there's one book that is out there on game-planning for Hurts, it's that he struggles to pick up blitzes (see every game against Tampa Bay and Todd Bowles so far).
"But I think what's important in those moments against teams like that is you have to play your rules," Sirianni said. "You have to be ready to adjust, and you have to be on the same page.
"Now, that's easier said than done. They make it challenging for you, but this is what you prepare for in training camp. This is what you prepare for during OTAs. You play your rules and you adjust to the different things that are coming at you."
The Eagles have adjusted and adapted to everything so far – coming back from last season's collapse, the rough start to this one, and every uneven or just barely scraped by win until it finally all started to click after.
What's one more time?
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