How Does The 2024 Eagles Offense Stack Up Against Their Super Bowl Winning 2017 Offense?
The Philadelphia Eagles offense was a key factor in their shootout Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots 41-33. Their offense boasted a plethora of playmakers like Carson Wentz, Alshon Jeffery, and LeGarrette Blount.
Since then, the team has been trying to get back to the mountaintop. General Manager Howie Roseman, over the past several offseasons, has made key acquisitions, like wide receiver A.J. Brown and running back Saquon Barkley, to try and take home the team’s second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
The team’s offense going into the 2024 season might be the most complete since they won it all, but are they better?
Quarterbacks
Jalen Hurts and Carson Wentz have actually had similar journeys during their time in Philadelphia. Both, in their second year as the full-time starter, had MVP runner-up seasons halted by injury. Both quarterbacks’ teams made the Super Bowl that year and both regressed the following season. The question is, will Jalen Hurts bounce back or continue to slide as Wentz did? A key figure to answering this question comes in Hurts’ quarterback rating. While Wentz had a spectacular 2017 season, setting the franchise record for passing touchdowns with 33, Pro Football Reference shows his success that season in the Philadelphia Eagles offense was unsustainable.
Wentz saw a spike in his QBR in his sophomore season. He went from a 46.7 to a 78.6 QBR with a 101.9 passer rating in 2017. After this, in seasons where Wentz played eight games or more, his QBR was never higher than a 62. Hurts QBR over his career has been much more consistent. It started at a 33.8 and steadily kicked up to a 68.3 in 2022 and has hovered in the 60s since then.
Hurts also has an ability that Carson was never as efficient with either, the ability to score with his legs. While Wentz was always a scrambler in the pocket, his bread and butter was his passing ability. Wentz has only scored 11 rushing touchdowns in his career. Hurts, in just his stint with the Eagles, has almost tripled that number with 41.
Runningbacks
This unit, like many of the others going forward, is a case of the 2017 unit having solid options but the 2024 unit being an all-around upgrade. In 2017, the Birds had a running game by committee with options like Corey Clement, Jay Ajayi, who the team picked up midseason from the Dolphins, and Feature back LeGarrette Blount.
Blount had a solid season in Philadelphia, rushing for almost 800 yards, but even his best efforts are no match for the success of Saquon Barkley.
In just seven seasons, Barkley is a two-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler with one more 1,000-yard season (3) than Blount (2). He is also a greater weapon in the passing game, with 2,100 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns. In comparison, Blount has just 454 receiving yards with two receiving touchdowns. Barkley’s dynamic style better suits the modern-day offense and will take pressure off Hurts in the backfield.
Receivers/Tight Ends
Once again, in the receiving core, 2024’s unit is a classic case of “anything you can do, I can do better” in comparison to 2017. Leading the way on that unit during the Super Bowl season were Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith.
Jeffery was solid with almost 800 yards receiving and nine touchdowns. Smith was more of a complimentary piece in his age-28 season, with just 430 yards and two touchdowns. While many of the playmakers on that 2017 team were solid, 2024’s roster feels more as if guys like Brown and Heisman Winner DeVonta Smith could be plugged into any system and instantly be a game-changing wide receiver one.
In Smith’s rookie year, he broke the Eagles franchise rookie receiving record with 916 yards. When the team brought in Brown in 2022, they continued to make franchise history. Both became the first 1,000-yard receivers on the team since Jeremy Maclin in 2014. Brown set the franchise single-season yards record with 1,496. Smith and Brown were also the first tandem in franchise two, both finishing with 1,000 yards in 2022.
Brown had another 1,400-yard campaign last year, and Smith had another 1,000. The tandem of Brown and Smith is simply more productive than Jeffery and Smith ever were.
Tight End, on the other hand, might be the first decisive win for the 2017 team. Dallas Goedert has been solid since being selected by the team in 2018, but Zach Ertz is simply a Philadelphia legend. He was an anchor of the team for seven years and is second all-time in receptions for the franchise. Not to mention, he’s a three-time Pro-Bowler in comparison to the rewardless Goedert.
Offensive Line
This one is probably the closest on any of these rankings. Both the 2017 and 2024 units are stacked with impact players. Of course, the 2017 unit had future Hall of Famers Jason Kelce and Jason Peters. That’s probably the biggest difference because outside of that, other names are pretty interchangeable in terms of talent. Lane Johnson was on both lines, and Brandon Brooks and Landon Dickerson were and are productive for the franchise. That’s also not mentioning what a gem Jordan Mailata has been as a former rugby player turned lineman. However, the edge goes to the 2017 unit.
Jason Kelce retired at the end of the 2023 season. Despite the belief that Cam Jurgens can be a solid replacement, it’s almost impossible for anyone to match the consistency and leadership Kelce carried for over a decade in the trenches. That loss hurts the 2024 roster.
By that count, though, the 2024 roster wins the position battle 3-2. Does that mean they’ll finally put it all together in the Sirianni/Hurts era and win it all this year? That question will be answered in the coming months.
Main Image: Eric Hartline – USA Today Sports
