Philadelphia – There are reasons why teams that lose the Super Bowl rarely return the following year.
The Philadelphia Eagles are well aware of this now. Just like they learned in 2005, when they fell 6-10 just a year after going 13-3 and falling to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
This year’s decline was less severe, but still devastating.
Training camp began in July, with every player and coach being questioned about the possibility of a Super Bowl hangover. Then came the 10-1 start, and all the hangover talk was forgotten.
Despite winning ten of their first eleven games, the Eagles did not play their best football. Far from it. Perhaps the hangover was present, but it was so deeply buried that it was difficult to detect.
The mental strain eventually became too much, as expectations grew with each win and a Super Bowl appeared to be a real possibility.
The most important thing is that we aren’t focused on the Super Bowl before the season begins, and we weren’t focused on the Super Bowl heading into the playoff game either,” said offensive lineman Landon Dickerson.
“That’s the mindset you need to have in this league. You can’t walk around thinking that just because you went there last year, you’ll return.
“Every NFL team has a one-year expiration date and for this team that expiration came and it’s over. This team will most likely never be together again in some shape or form. Every year’s a new team and every year the expectation is for guys to come in and want to work hard and get better every single day.”
Left tackle Jordan Mailata also shot down the Super Bowl hangover on Wednesday as players cleaned out their lockers and headed into the offseason. He said he had a “Super Bowl hunger.”
