Eagles’ Super Bowl hopes: These historical nuggets suggest Philadelphia is primed for another title bid

At 8-1, the Eagles are the NFL’s best team at the midway point of the 2023 season. That alone might be enough for some to project a second straight Super Bowl bid by Philadelphia. But history also points in the Birds’ favor when it comes to a potential title run.

As Yahoo! Sports notes using Pro Football Reference data, the Eagles are just the fourth team in the last three decades to start consecutive seasons with an 8-1 record. In each of the previous three instances, those 8-1 teams went on to win the Super Bowl in the second year.

The Cowboys did it first in 1994-95, the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1996-97, and the Colts did it again in 2005-06. The Eagles, who didn’t suffer their first loss until Week 10 in 2022, beat the Cowboys on Sunday to improve to 8-1, becoming the first team to hit that mark in consecutive years since Indianapolis.

History, of course, has no bearing on what occurs to the 2023 Eagles between now and February. But it speaks to the talent Philadelphia has assembled; even though the team hasn’t necessarily cruised to its 8-1 record this year, its performance since the start of 2022 is on par with former Super Bowl champions and dynasties. Under head coach Nick Sirianni, with a star-studded lineup built by personnel chief Howie Roseman, the Eagles are 24-4-1 since the start of 2022, including playoffs.

Also on the Eagles’ side: franchise history. The team has now started 8-1 six different times since the club’s founding in 1933. The five previous times, the Eagles either reached the championship or won it. They won the NFL Championship, which predated the Super Bowl, in both 1949 and 1960, advanced to the Super Bowl in 1980 and 2004, won the Super Bowl in 2017, and then advanced to the Super Bowl in 2022. Stay tuned for where 2023 slots in on the list.