sport news The Eagles are Super Bowl favorites... but could their easy path lead to ... trends now
Take a step back from the Eagles' stacked roster and impressive resume, and you'll find a slightly worrying fact.
Of late, this is not a team that's been tested much.
It's highly possible, even likely, that some of that perception is down the team's downright dominance up to Super Bowl LVII vs. the Chiefs.
Philly is 16-3 including the postseason, has an electric offense led by Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith and Miles Sanders and their defense has allowed just 14 points combined in their previous two playoff games.
Those facts have contributed to them being considered a 1.5-point favorite over Kansas City.
Devonta Smith and A.J. Brown celebrate after the Eagles won the NFC Championship game
The Eagles handily beat the 49ers after quarterback Brock Purdy went down injured
And while it's hard to argue with Philly's resume, their relative waltz to the championship opens up the possibility of being caught out by the Chiefs.
The Eagles had the second-easiest projected strength of schedule according to preseason Vegas win totals, and wound up with the joint-third easiest slate at the year's end by Pro Football Reference's metrics.
But it's Philly's recent run that looks almost concerningly easy.
For the privilege of competing with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for the title, Nick Sirianni's team beat a hugely overmatched Giants squad in the divisional round before trouncing the 49ers 31-7 in the NFC Championship.
That win looks far better on paper, however, as anyone who watched the game knows San Francisco mostly played with a combination of fourth-stringer Josh Johnson and a highly-injured Brock Purdy, who was diagnosed with a six-month UCL tear afterwards.
Looking at the bigger picture - and excluding the 49ers game - the Eagles have not played a top 10 team in points per game since Week 16 vs. the Cowboys. That will be roughly six weeks from when Philly kicks off vs. Kansas City on February 12.
Other than that 40-34 loss to Dallas, the Eagles' recent path has been a breeze as far as their defense has been concerned.
The Giants, who they played in the divisional round and in Week 18, finished tied for 15th in points per game and actually trotted out third-stringer Davis Webb for the regular season finale.
Jalen Hurts' stellar play this season has led the Eagles to a Super Bowl berth vs. the Chiefs
Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes celebrate after beating the Bengals in AFC Championship
In Week 17, it was the
