After the Dolphins lost in — well — gruesome fashion Thursday night, the Eagles were the only unbeaten team in the NFL heading into their Sunday monsoon matinee against the Jaguars.
And while there has surely been buzz around the NFL about the Birds being true contenders, the surging Jags promised to offer their toughest test of the season (as well as the weather, and former Super Bowl winning head coach Doug Pederson returning to the Linc for the first time).
After a rough first quarter, the 2022 Eagles did something that will no doubt give fans a ton of confidence: they overcame adversity in a 29-21 win.
Philadelphia scored 29 straight points and created five straight turnovers following a 14-0 deficit first created by a pick-six thrown in the opening stanza. They ran for 210 yards in the pouring rain and prevailing wind and the entire team held strong in another statement win.
Philly also worked through key injuries to starters Darius Slay, Jordan Mailata and Issac Seumalo — already playing without Avonte Maddox.
“I’m so proud of this team," A.J. Brown said after the game. "We learned about each other today as a team. We went down early. Like I said, nobody missed a beat. Nobody folded, and that’s what we needed. We needed to be tested. We’re going to use this game as momentum and keep moving forward.”
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The Eagles are no doubt among the NFL's Super Bowl front-runners, and despite what Brown might think, to outsiders they will have an extra target on their backs from every opponent they face as long as they remain perfect in the standings.
"There's no target," Brown said, "it's just us coming out and being 1-0 every week, nobody is really thinking about that."
Veteran Fletcher Cox, who says he has never in his life (not in high school and not in college) been on a 4-0 team, has a different view however.
"I don't think I was ever 4-0 at anything," the defensive tackle said. "Not in a team sport at least. It feels good. The good thing about being 4-0 is now we have to try and go 5-0, you get a target on your back, we are the only undefeated team, the next opponent will be juiced up and ready to play, but the biggest thing right now is to still continue to build each and every week, hold each other accountable and play as a team."
Interestingly, offensive guard Landon Dickerson — who has been 4-0 before (13-0 in 2020 and 8-0 to start 2019 with Alabama) — says it is no big deal.
"In my eyes, we are 0-0 right now," he said. "Next game."
After a trip to Arizona next weekend to face an extremely inconsistent and not particularly intimidating Cardinals squad, the Eagles will host a Sunday Night Football showdown against a Dallas Cowboys team that already has welcomed back Michael Gallup and appears likely to have Dak Prescott back under center come Week 6.
“It’s exciting – I’m excited as heck. I’ve never been 2-0, never been 3-0 here," Miles Sanders said, chipper as always after a career high day. "But the best thing about being 4-0 is being able to be 5-0.”
This marks the Eagles first 4-0 start since the 2004 campaign, one of three ever Super Bowl seasons for the franchise.
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