For the second time in three seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl. The Eagles blew out the Washington Commanders 55-23 and will take on the Kansas City Chiefs for the second time in the Super Bowl.
Seeing the journey the Eagles have made to get to this point, it’s hard not to look at the Pittsburgh Steelers situation and wonder if what they need is to lose. Lose like the Eagles did in 2020.
It wasn’t a popular move after their 4-11-1 season because then-head coach Doug Pederson had led the team to the playoffs three straight years and even won a Super Bowl in 2017. But the Eagles thought one down year was enough and moved on to Nick Sirianni.
Since the 4-11-1 season, the Eagles have made two trips to the Super Bowl, including this year and are the class of the NFC. They even went from 4-11-1 to 9-8 the following year and made the playoffs.
The Steelers meanwhile are the model of consistency and mediocrity in the AFC. The best thing that could happen to the Steelers is to finally have a down year, which would quite down the talk of head coach Mike Tomlin’s streak of non-losing seasons. This is a badge he’s work for nearly two decades but amounts to an NFL participation trophy.
It would also help the Steelers get a higher draft pick and hopefully secure an elite player. Picking in the late teens and early 20s year after year had kept them from landing the truly elite players in recent drafts. Much of the Eagles success was via the NFL draft and thanks to Andy Weidl. Weidl is now the Steelers assistant GM and is working his magic in the draft for Pittsburgh.