Despite sitting at 4-2, the Philadelphia Eagles have looked nothing like the defending Super Bowl champions. The cracks, which first appeared in their narrow early-season wins, have widened dramatically over the past two weeks. The offense has sputtered, the defense looks disjointed, and the locker room, by several accounts, feels tense.
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The numbers tell part of the story. The Eagles offense ranks 30th in the NFL after six games, having been shut out in the second half against the Giants on Thursday and blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to the Broncos the week before.
On the defensive side, DC Vic Fangio’s once-dominant unit has fallen to 19th in points allowed and 22nd in expected points per rush, struggling to replace key departures like Josh Sweat and Milton Williams.
Meanwhile, injuries have also accompanied the Eagles’ offensive line, particularly to left guard Landon Dickerson. Add to all this, the AJ Brown drama and veteran tackle Lane Johnson admitting the play-calling has become “predictable,” and the situation grows even murkier.
It’s no wonder ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that one anonymous Eagles player described the current feeling inside the locker room as being “like the 2023 meltdown all over again.” They started that season 10-1, but by Week 18 fell to 11-6 and eventually got knocked out of the Wildcard Round.
Jon Gruden, who joined Pardon My Take today, believes the similarities aren’t coincidental. Drawing on his own post–Super Bowl experience with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the former head coach explained why it’s so difficult for championship teams to sustain momentum.
“It’s tough to repeat,” Gruden said. “I remember after we won the Super Bowl, we tried to keep that band together. I remember losing Joe Jurevicius and Mike Alstott on the same play for the season in Week 2,” he added.
But for Gruden, the Philadelphia Eagles’ issues go far beyond X’s and O’s.
“The Eagles aren’t the same team. The chemistry of the team is not the same… I’m looking around the league, I’m seeing Isaiah Rodgers, Darius Slay, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams… some of their best players on that Super Bowl defense playing elsewhere. They’re not as good because the players that won the Super Bowl aren’t there,” he observed.
His biggest concern, however, was about the connection within the team.
“You don’t stay the same in pro football, you either get better or worse… Right now, they’re not as good a team. And they don’t look like they have a great chemistry. It just doesn’t look like they care a lot about each other right now. But I’m hoping they wake up and snap out of the funk they’re in. It hasn’t looked good so far,” added the former head coach.
As harsh as it may sound, but Gruden’s comments cut to the heart of what’s been haunting the Eagles. Because this is definitely not a team short on talent. They are most likely struggling to rediscover their identity.
Between the injuries, the defensive departures, and the mounting frustration on offense, the Eagles’ 2025 season feels perilously close to becoming a rerun of 2023.
And unless that chemistry returns soon, all the numbers, all the names, and all the talent may not be enough to prevent history from repeating itself. Safe to say, the Eagles may have a must-win game in Week 7 already vs. the Vikings. For nothing solves most problems than a big dub.
