September 09, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
Offensive coordinator Sean Mannion talks with Dallas Goedert #88 of the Philadelphia Eagles during training camp at the Jefferson Health Training Complex on August 4, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The 2026 NFL season is about to arrive and the Eagles have... inconsistent expectations.
Will they contend for a Super Bowl? Will their offense be frustrating and make them non-competitive? Will the Cowboys be good again?
If you poll NFL writers, you'll find the full gambit of outcomes. Everything from a Super Bowl appearance to an early January vacation came up as we combed through NFL-covering publications to find a sampling of what the so-called experts are saying.
Take a look:
Four Eagles writers at the Philadelphia Inquirer picked the Eagles win/loss record for 2026 — ranging from Ryan Novozinsky's 13-4 prediction to Jeff McLane's 10-7. Three of the four writers expect the Eagles will qualify for the playoffs, with McLane the lone holdout, picking them to finish behind the Cowboys and miss the postseason entirely. Wrote McLane:
It’s hard to see Dallas not finishing with a winning record. I think the Eagles will be right there with them. Heck, they’re still the odds-on favorite to win the division. But I think defenses will still be able to corral Saquon Barkley and the run game because the passing offense will not improve enough with too many question marks at receiver and tight end. [Inquirer.com]
None of the four scribes have the Eagles going past the NFC Championship game, which they unanimously think will be won by the Rams. The quartet also picked the end of season awards, with Jeff Neiburg picking Barkley to return to form a the Offensive Player of the Year.
Five NFL writers for NBC's Pro Football Talk picked their playoff brackets and the Eagles appear on four of them. Mike Florio is the only one without them dancing. The other four have the Birds finishing everywhere from the No. 2 seed to the No. 7 seed in the NFC, with just one — Charean Williams — expecting them to make the NFC title game (where they lose to the Rams).
No, this is not a mistake (I double and triple-checked that this was indeed published in 2026). ESPN's Bill Barnwell is picking the Chiefs to beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Without the ability to pin their ears back and strictly go after Mahomes as a passer, the Eagles might not be quite as dominant on defense this time around. Jalen Hurts has been spectacular in the Super Bowl matchups against Mahomes, but his one fumble in Super Bowl LVII helped swing seven points back to the Chiefs in a 38-35 victory. This one wouldn't be quite as high-scoring, but let's say that the Chiefs let Kelce (and potentially other members of the organization) ride off into the sunset. [ESPN]
Eight NFL writers, including Albert Breer, picked their NFL awards and playoff brackets, and the Cowboys seem to be the trendy pick to win the NFC East. Seven of the eight have Dallas atop the NFC East. Just Mitch Goldich is zagging — but he has Philly getting upset in the first round by his six-seeded Seahawks.
In a pair of The Athletic stories predicting the 2026 NFL season, there are some contradictory expectations. First, Brooks Kubena, in a story making one bold prediction for each NFL team, says the Eagles will have the No. 1 defense in the sport:
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s arrival in 2024, plus the infusion of then-rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, fueled Philadelphia’s Super Bowl LIX title as much as anything else. The Eagles were not as dominant in 2025, partly due to the regression of the depth in their secondary and the injuries sustained at edge rusher. GM Howie Roseman shored up the CB2 spot by signing Riq Woolen in free agency and splurged at edge rusher in the draft-day, trade-and-sign of Jonathan Greenard. One of the strongest starting lineups in the NFL is reaching maturity — former first-round picks Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter both signed extensions in the offseason — and should at the very least create more three-and-outs and turnovers than it did in 2025. [The Athletic]
However, in another article polling their football writers for season-long predictions, the Eagles are barely even mentioned. They get one single vote out of 39 (maybe Kubena's?) to win the NFC, and two votes out of 40 to be the league's biggest disappointment.
CBS's John Breech has no love for the Birds — he is picking Nick Sirianni to miss the postseason for the first time ever, with the Eagles finishing 9-8 and a game behind the Cowboys. He then went on to pick Dallas... to make the Super Bowl. And to lose to the Bengals.
Sure.
Anyway, here's what he wrote about the NFC East:
Nick Sirianni has been the Eagles' head coach for five seasons, and he's led Philadelphia to the playoffs in every single one of those seasons, but I think the run finally ends this year. The Eagles just hired their fifth offensive coordinator in Sirianni's five seasons, and if you combine that with A.J. Brown no longer being in town, I think we could see the offense struggle some this year. The Eagles still have Devonta Smith, but behind him, their receiving room essentially consists of a rookie (Makai Lemon) and a bunch of guys they added this offseason, like Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore. I don't think we're going to see a huge collapse in Philadelphia -- I still have them finishing above .500 -- but I do think this will be the year where their run atop the division comes to an end. [CBS Sports]
For what it's worth, their run at the division will have been one year long. They only have two NFC East titles in their three playoff runs under Sirianni (2022 and 2024).
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