In this age of NFL parity, it’s rare to see a Super Bowl loser return next year. Since 2000, it’s been rare to see Super Bowl losers appear in the sport’s biggest game. Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was tasked with putting his team in a position to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss in Super Bowl LVII last month. Like most office workers, Roseman thinks his Eagles are in dire straits. The good place to make again to the Super Bowl, but it won’t be easy.
“Just because you say you’re coming back, every Super Bowl losing team says, ‘We’ll be back, we’ll be back,'” rose said “Well, we have to make that happen. How do we make that happen? By continuing to do the right things, have the right processes in place and give our coaches the right players.”
There’s only one Super Bowl losing team that has come back next year in the 21st century, and that’s New England patriot, lost LII (52) and won LIII (53). They are also the only team to repeat as the winner of this century in the 2000s. So recent history is not on the side of Roseman and the Eagles.
Many of us thought the Cincinnati Bengals would make it this year, and going into the AFC title game against Kansas City felt like a lockdown. Cincy has owned KC for the past two years and recently beat the captains in the regular season. But when all was said and done, the Bengal team failed, and the captain returned to the Super Bowl and then beat the Eagles in a horror movie.
The way the NFL is set up today, it’s generally very difficult to get into consecutive Super Bowls. There’s a lot of turnover in the league due to free agency, coach/assistant revolving doors, and many other factors, but that’s what the league has been striving for over the past two decades.
Two more playoff teams were added to the post-season for a reason. Whenever you hear this word more, it usually revolves around money in the sports world. The NFL is no exception and adding more teams, creating more parity over the years, increases the odds per team/fan base year after year, which means more more money for the tournament.
This is what the league and its owners want. Many teams have more hope at the end of the season, with seven playoff spots in each convention. As more teams have hope, fans will be more interested, and they can now extend the round of wild cards to add another match on Monday night. Add moola.
So, the Eagles return next season is not a certainty. Roseman knows it but will do their best so they can accomplish that feat. They will almost certainly face a tougher schedule next year, after finishing first in the league and conference. Although no one outside of Philly wants to see them happywatching them try (and potentially fail) would be fun.
