Can the Eagles Compete This Season?

By Denny Basens, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

Through two weeks, the Philadelphia Eagles are one of the NFL's eight unbeaten teams. The team's fast 2-0 start has generated a great deal of excitement around the city, and rightfully so.

The Eagles have picked up two decisive victories against the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears, but given the level of quality of those opponents, how much stock should be put into the team's early success? Are the Eagles truly an ascending team, or are their accomplishments merely a product of the poor clubs they've faced?

We can say with certainty that the Eagles haven't played down to the level of their opponent. Doug Pederson has thoroughly out-coached both Hue Jackson and John Fox. The Birds have come out ready to play in both games, with sound game plans, sound play calling, and appropriate in-game adjustments taking place.

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has also more than held up his end of the bargain, holding the Browns and Bears to a combined 17 points in the first two games.

The bottom line here is that schematically, the Eagles have been put in position to succeed by the coaching staff. Knowing that the coaching staff is capable of putting together good plans of attack that take advantage of the team's personnel shows that the team is going to be in a lot of games strictly from a preparation standpoint each week.

Carson Wentz's excellent play can't be understated. The rookie has been absolutely sensational, and has been the driving force for the team's offensive success.

This isn't a case of a talented athlete simply taking advantage of lesser players and winning with raw talent alone. Wentz has shown that he understands the game and has a great feel for what's going around him. His awareness is something unlike anything that we've seen from quarterbacks on this team in previous years.

He's reading defenses properly and reacting excellently. He's checking out of doomed plays, and into successful ones. He's not making mistakes, and hasn't turned the ball over once. For a guy with just two starts under his belt, these are incredibly promising signs, not just for the future, but for this year as well.

It may be easy for some to discredit what the Eagles have done so far because of the poor teams they've been up against, but make no mistake, the success that they have had is legitimate, and they were head and shoulders above their competition.

The Eagles are a good team. The question now is how good?

Sunday's battle against the Pittsburgh Steelers will tell a lot about exactly how far along this team is, but for the time being the arrow appears to be doing nothing but pointing up for the Eagles.

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