One of the toughest road trips in the NFL is a date at the M&T Bank Stadium with the Baltimore Ravens.
Lamar Jackson and co have been impressive so far in 2024-25, and have found themselves well supported to make it all the way to the Super Bowl.
But they were stopped in their tracks on home soil by the Philadelphia Eagles, who welcomed in December with an excellent 24-19 win in Baltimore.
And that victory only serves to cement the Eagles’ own Super Bowl hopes in 2025.
Eagles Have Landed
The Super Bowl odds suggest that it’s the Detroit Lions (+275) and the Buffalo Bills (+450) that are the teams to beat based upon the evidence of the regular season so far.
But those betting on American football will only be too aware that the Bills have never won the Super Bowl, while the Lions are yet to even make it to the NFL Championship game.
Of course, such things are there to be changed in the world of sport, but if history and pedigree does count for anything, the Eagles – Super Bowl champions in 2017, NFC Conference winners in 2022 – certainly have that on side.
It also helps that they’ve got a number of high-class operators in their ranks. Of them, it was once again Jalen Hurts that changed the game against the Ravens.
Philadelphia found themselves 0-9 down after the first quarter in Baltimore, desperately needing a spark. And they got one, alright, courtesy of Hurts, who came alive in the second period.
He threw a touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert to reduce his side’s arrears, before Hurts himself rushed into the end zone after another smart play.
Those are the moments of inspiration that can win playoff games, so Philadelphia know they have a match winner on their hands in Hurts.
Saq Attack
Pundits are starting to make their predictions as to who will claim the regular season MVP crown.
One common pick is Philadelphia’s running back Saquon Barkley, who is having arguably the best season of his career.
The 27-year-old is, at the time of writing, one yard away from crossing the 1,500 rushing yards mark, and has been awarded the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Week award three times this term.
In one outing against the Los Angeles Rams, Barkley rushed for 255 yards, setting up a pair of 70+ yard touchdowns in a stellar performance. That 255-yard tally was the ninth-most ever recorded in an Eagles game in their entire 90-year history.
You can’t keep a good man down, and it was Barkley who secured the Eagles’ eye-catching win over the Ravens on December 1. He ran in a fourth quarter touchdown to ensure that Philadelphia remained out of the hosts’ reach.
It’s his versatility, and ability as a rusher and receiver, that marks Barkley out as an offensive dynamo, and while others in the NFL have had more column inches with regards to the MVP award, few deserve it quite like the Eagles man.
With Barkley and Hurts in this form, Philadelphia are going to take some stopping.
