An optimist's guide to the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated May 27, 2024 8:34 PM ET

Eagles fans rarely see the bright side of anything, especially after a 32-9 playoff loss to the Bucs in the wild-card round. But after an eventful offseason, Eagles fans have good reason to be optimistic. Here’s why:

New coordinators

Turns out that being lifelong friends with the quarterback and playing high school football for his father doesn’t necessarily make someone a great offensive coordinator. To be fair, Brian Johnson did the job successfully for three college programs before taking over Shane Steichen but things didn’t go smoothly in 2023.

Philadelphia finished the year with a top-10 offense but fell apart down the stretch, losing six of its last seven games, and gaining just three first-downs in its only playoff game.

Defensively, things were even worse under coordinator Sean Desai, who lost play-calling duties to Matt Patricia in Week 15. Only the Commanders (30.5) and Cardinals (26.8) allowed more points per game (25.2) than Philadelphia last season.

This year, the Eagles have a pair of veteran coordinators in Vic Fangio and Kellen Moore. Fangio spent three years as head coach of the Denver Broncos before taking over the Dolphins defense in 2023 and Moore spent four years as the Cowboys offensive coordinator before taking the same job with the Chargers last year.

With established, veteran coordinators on both sides of the ball, the Eagles should be prepared for whatever teams throw at them next season.

CB Quinyon Mitchell

A single player can’t fix all of Philadelphia’s defensive woes, but Mitchell should drastically improve a secondary that gave up 35 touchdown passes in 2023, second most in the NFL and second most in franchise history.

Mitchell was the first cornerback off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft but went later than expected as the 22nd player taken. In five seasons with Toledo, Mitchell had 124 tackles (93 solo), 45 passes defended and six interceptions. He didn’t allow a touchdown in 402 coverage snaps last year, and his 15 pass breakups tied for the most in the FBS.

Given James Bradberry’s poor play in 2023, Mitchell should start immediately opposite Darius Slay, the team’s 33-year-old perennial Pro Bowler.

Better schedule

Philadelphia started last season with the league’s toughest schedule, per NFL Research. This year, things look much better. According to The Sporting News, the Eagles, Colts and Titans are tied for the NFL’s 21st-toughest schedule with opponents holding a combined .491 winning percentage from 2023.

Thanks to a “home game” in Brazil to open the season, the Eagles will play just three games in Philadelphia in the first 10 weeks of the season but finish with four of their last five games at home. With their final three games against division rivals, the road to the NFC East should run through Philadelphia in 2024.

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