Hungry Eagles Aim To Put Last Year's Playoff Embarrassment Behind Them

The Philadelphia Eagles hope to show the difference a year makes with this year's playoff appearance vs. last year's one-and-done.

Dec 15, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata (68) and guard Landon Dickerson (69) in the tunnel against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – The sense of doom was hard to shake at this time last year when the Eagles were preparing for their wildcard playoff date in Tampa against the Buccaneers. The dread was nearly overwhelming given how the regular season finished for them.

It took a year, but that dread has been replaced by something much different as the Eagles get ready to host the Gren Bay Packers on Sunday in the wildcard round.

“I think the hunger," was the answer given by left tackle Jordan Mailata when asked what he thought was the difference a year has made. “I’ll be honest, the hunger’s there for sure.”

To eat and get their fill, the Eagles will need to contain an explosive offense and a ground game led by running back Josh Jacobs and quarterback Jordan Love. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles will need a healthy Jalen Hurts to shake off the rust of more than two weeks of inactivity and Saquon Barkley to be the Saquon Barkley that averaged 5.8 yards per carry this season on his way to 2,005.

The Eagles can do that. Last year, there was little hope.

“We have a lot more to prove,” said Mailata. “I think the chip on the shoulder, getting eliminated like that, was pretty embarrassing for those that were part of it. That’s carried over to this year and we want to make sure 2023 never repats itself again.

“But I think the young guys have showed that same hunger, too. They want to get better every week, and that’s come down to the coaching and the culture that we built this year. I think that’s what the difference is – the hunger and the chip on our shoulder.”

And the losing. The Eagles lost five of six before they went into the postseason. They were cooked. This year they lost just thre times and had a franchise-record 10-game winning streak.

“Momentum is definitely on our side this year,” said right tackle Lane Johnson. “I feel like we're coming together more than probably what we were last year where the team was kinda like in disarray. ...I feel guys are confident. We're loose but we're (focused) on what got us here and that's practicing hard and how we so things every day and all that stuff carries over.”

Neither Mailata or Johnson could remember if head coach Nick Sirianni put the team through a fully padded practice like he did at Lincoln Financial Field in Wednesday’s sub-freezing temperatures in South Philly in the week leading up to the game against the Bucs, but nobody seemed to mind.

“You want to take advantage of every opportunity like this,” said linebacker Nakobe Dean. “Not everybody gets to play in the playoffs. I was just on Snapchat looking at my guys’ stories, Instagram, and they’re all on the beach in Miami. I’m like, ‘Yeah, we were in the cold working.’ But it’s an opportunity and a privilege.”

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