Since when was winning in the NFL a problem? Perhaps when you become so used to winning, it becomes about the manner in which you are winning.
No team typifies that sentiment this season quite like the Philadelphia Eagles, who remain the best at winning while looking about as cohesive and as charming as a Christmas Day dinner between in-laws.
The Super Bowl champions are in turmoil… if you are to buy into social media impatience, a divided fan-base, perfection-hungry analysts and the desire of one or two disgruntled players to be the centre of attention.
The offense is sputtering, there is a tension in the building, uneasy reports are emerging and an ice-cold quarterback who only knows how to win is drawing criticism. But the matter of fact is Nick Sirianni's reigning Lombardi Trophy-holders boast a tied NFC-best record of 8-2, having all-but certainly won their division.
They have beaten Super Bowl contenders in the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers (whose credentials have admittedly been dented of late) and, on Sunday night, the Detroit Lions, whose prolific offense was limited to just nine points.
True, ice-cold champions win on their bad days. And they are a winning machine, with the strongest roster in football. So why the long faces?
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Lions @ Eagles
Highlights from the Week 11 matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2025 NFL season
"I think we take a lot of pride in just winning, period," said Sirianni said. "As I watched football today [around the league], I feel like I saw a lot of teams waiting to lose.
"Our team's waiting to win because they know how to win. There's something to be said for knowing how to win and knowing how to figure out ways to win."
In many ways, it makes them the scariest team in the NFL. They have barely come close to hitting the high-powered stride expected of them, and yet it's difficult to see any rival dethroning them in the NFC on the way to a second-straight Super Bowl appearance.
The spotlight and scrutiny has naturally turned to the face of the franchise in Hurts at the heart of an offense struggling to find rhythm or incite a fear factor under first-year coordinator Kevin Patullo, whose failure to consistently scheme star weapons open and his predictable system has been under-utilising an attack with all the weapons for which a quarterback could ask.
He and Hurts have been questioned for playing too conservatively and with reduced aggression in favour of ball security and eradicating negative plays. It has seen Hurts throw for under 200 yards in six games this season, including 135 against the Lions with a completion percentage of just 50, and for at least 300 just once, sitting 19th in total passing yards across the league and with a 22nd-ranked 180 completions.
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Ndamukong Suh talks about the Philadelphia Eagles' struggles.
Ndamukong Suh talks about the Philadelphia Eagles' struggles and believes something in the organisation is an issue
It leaves Philly's offense ranked fifth-worst in the passing game and 25th overall in total yards per game, as well as being fourth-worst in third-down conversion rate.
He has also, though, thrown just one interception to go with his 16 touchdowns, and his deep ball talents, which might be among the best in the league, see him sit fifth in completion percentage on passes 20 yards or more. They just aren't seeing it enough.
Patullo's unit is devoid of imagination and struggling to move the ball. Even Saquon Barkley is yet to come to life with 662 rushing yards (14th) for four touchdowns and just one 100-yard game, having led the NFL with 2,283 scrimmage yards in 2024, while AJ Brown has been unhappy all year with just 38 receptions from 65 targets for 457 yards and three touchdowns - 130 yards of which came across two games.
He turned to a bible verse to subtly hint at his lack of usage earlier in the year, and recently encouraged fantasy football players to take him out of their team.
"You can't just keep slapping a Band-Aid over that and you expect to win later in the year," he said.
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SUPER BOWL 59
The best of the action from Super Bowl 59 as the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans
When you are the Eagles, maybe you can. For it feels all too familiar a case of deja vu for a team that weathered late-season hiccups and uninspiring offense before later dismantling the Chiefs at the Super Bowl. These days, their campaign doesn't really begin until January, and it is on the most daunting of stages where Hurts turns it up a notch as a coveted killer on the big occasion.
Hurts is 31-15 against teams with a winning record in his career, putting him among the highest of such rates in the last 75 years. Oh, and he has worked with 10 different play-callers since 2016. Nothing really fazes him, and that should include the outside noise.
Speaking to Sky Sports NFL in the summer, Sirianni labelled the debate over Hurts' talent 'hilarious'. He hasn't an ounce of concern over his quarterback.
Reports emerged from the US last week suggesting there were players inside the Eagles locker room who had become frustrated with Hurts. Left tackle Jordan Mailata brushed the notion off.
"It's kinda crazy that someone inside the organization would do that," Mailata said. "But then again, we ain't gonna worry about that. Tell you what I am going to worry about, doing my damn job. Got enough problems there."
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NFL HLTS
Highlights from the Week 10 matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers during the 2025 NFL season
Where the Eagles' strength has so often lied is in its depth across the board and a game-changer-rich roster on both sides of the ball. As Hurts and his offense endured a tough day against Detroit, Vic Fangio's defense arose to deliver one of its most accomplished performances of the season against an offense that hasn't been held to single-digit points since October 2023 and that has scored the most points in the NFL since the start of 2022.
They posted 20 quarterback pressures, seven quarterback hits and two sacks to turn Jared Goff into a skittish and suffocated pumpkin in the pocket, while limiting the Lions to just three of 13 third-down conversions and zero of five fourth-down conversions.
Recently-acquired trade addition Jaelan Phillips led his team with six quarterback pressures a week after recording seven pressures, six tackles, two quarterback hits and a tackle for loss on debut against the Packers. And in the secondary star corner Quinyon Mitchell did not allow a single catch from any of the six passes thrown in his direction and has now allowed a 41.9 completion percentage this year, the lowest by any player since 2018; he allowed Amon-Ra St Brown just two catches from 12 targets.
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From Phillips' arrival to the return of Nolan Smith Jr and the unretired Brandon Graham, Fangio has one of the fiercest units in the league at his disposal.
"The defense was playing lights-out; it was one of the best performances I've ever seen," said Hurts. "So a really, really big-time game on that side of the ball."
They win how they need to. Earning a Super Bowl ring earns a team that right. Hurts is still one of the coolest customers in high-pressure situations, one of the league's most gifted weapons rooms is still to be unleashed and the defense is brimming with disruptors.
It is the most rickety of NFL seasons with countless questions to be answered and holiday twists to come. Now is no time for alarm-bell doubts over an Eagles team that carries a sense of inevitability at times.
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