Eagles Must Soar In Playoff Flight: This Week In Philly Sports

PHILADELPHIA, PA —The season is over. While we can all talk about how the Philadelphia Eagles set a franchise record by going 14-3, it doesn't matter.

No one will be talking about that record if the Birds lose at home to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs on Sunday.

The players know it. The owner knows it. The fans know it.

It's Super Bowl or Bust. And really, that's what every NFL team plays for.

But the Philadelphia Eagles have always tried to live up to the "Gold Standard" placed upon them by Owner Jeffrey Lurie a long time ago. For the most part, they've answered the (Liberty) Bell, winning the franchise's first Super Bowl and playing in another one just a few years later.

This team is now healthy and fully armed to make a strong playoff run.

How can a team not play in the Super Bowl with a lineup of Quarterback Jalen Hurts, Running Back Saquon Barkley, Wide Receivers A.J. Brown and Devonte Smith, a solid offensive line, and a punishing defense of rising young stars?

It all falls on Hurts of course.

The quarterback needs to return to his MVP-type level where he squared off against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, possibly only losing the Super Bowl because he fumbled.

We can't have those turnovers on Sunday. We can't have a slow start, missed targets of open receivers, and three-and-outs.

It doesn't work in the NFL Playoffs.

The team on the other side of the football, the Green Bay Packers, was in a similar position last year and knocked off the Dallas Cowboys.

It could happen again on Sunday. And if it does, it will hurt just as much as the Philadelphia Phillies falling and failing in the playoffs once again last year.

The road to the Super Bowl, though, isn't easy. It may even be much harder than in previous years.

Just look at the teams: The Detroit Lions are on the bye having grabbed the No. 1 seed. The Birds hold the No. 2 slot and play the Packers.

You've got the Minnesota Vikings, who just lost out on the No. 1 seed to the Lions, and the Los Angeles Rams, a team that has a Super Bowl quarterback and title. The Washington Commanders are on the rise with their young quarterback stud. But they play a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that has Baker Mayfield playing at a high level and a chip on his shoulder like Tom Brady used to have.

Baker can be a maker and a breaker, especially for the Birds, as he showed last year as the Eagles lost to Tampa Bay in a quick playoff exit.

But these Birds need to rise to the challenge. They need to climb the ladder and get to the Super Bowl.

The season won't matter if the Birds get their wings clipped.

Super Bowl or Bust.