Takeaways and predictions after an unforgettable NFL season ended in another Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Another NFL season is in the books, and we have a new Super Bowl champion to chase. Maybe the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty isn’t dead, but the run of Lombardi Trophies has come to at least a temporary halt after the Philadelphia Eagles crushed their three-peat dreams in a 40-22 mauling. It’s revenge and redemption for the Eagles after losing to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57, and they made it look easy in ways we rarely see against Patrick Mahomes.
But the Super Bowl is just the final chapter of a season-long saga. There were so many intriguing storylines that unfolded, and we’re going to look back at the 2024 season and review some of the main takeaways.
The Eagles are (and have been) the NFC’s undisputed gold standard
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Mookie: I’m not even sure Eagles fans have been able to fully appreciate how great their team has been for almost the entire 21st century. Since 2000, Philadelphia has the NFC’s second-best win percentage (.601), the second-most division titles (11), the most playoff wins (20), the most NFC Championship Game appearances (8), the most Super Bowl trips (4), and tied for the most Super Bowl wins (2). Three different head coaches and quarterbacks have taken them to the Super Bowl, something no other team in either the AFC or NFC can claim during that span.
Their only bad stretch was missing the playoffs five times in six seasons from 2011-2016. Even the Eagles’ last four 10+ loss seasons (1999, 2005, 2012, and 2020) have been immediately followed by playoff berths. Philly has been the standard for success in the NFC for a quarter century, and that gap has only widened following this triumph over the Chiefs. And yet, don’t be shocked if there are occasional calls to fire Nick Sirianni if the Eagles lose consecutive games at any point next year.
Drafting the right rookie QB can quickly change a franchise’s trajectory
Curtiss: All it takes is just one. Example? The Washington Commanders. Going into the season, no one expected the Commanders to make the leap that they made. Rookie sensation Jayden Daniels surprised everyone (myself included) with the season that he had, which led to the team reaching the NFC Championship for the first time since 1991.
In terms of QBs in his draft class, Daniels was my QB3 behind the New England Patriots’ Drake Maye and the Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams. The fact he came in and immediately changed the Commanders’ trajectory as a franchise was big for them, similar to what C.J. Stroud did his rookie season with the Houston Texans. As for the Denver Broncos, Bo Nix was able to change Denver’s trajectory, albeit not nearly to the same impact as Daniels. Still, Denver has a starter in Nix fans can feel happy about after failing to find a replacement for Peyton Manning since he retired in 2016. All it takes is the right QB and it can change everything.
Home field advantage is still king in the playoffs
Mookie: We’re steadily seeing less home dominance in the regular season, but that hasn’t translated to the postseason. In 2024, the home win percentage was just .533, the fifth-lowest over the last 20 years. Only the Washington Commanders won any road playoff games this season, knocking out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions. Over the past three seasons, home playoff teams are a whopping 28-8. Want to make a deep run in the playoffs? You probably need at least two home games. There are the odd exceptions like the 2021 Cincinnati Bengals, the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs, and the 2007 and 2011 New York Giants, but it’s uncommon for a reason.
The Dallas Cowboys have no idea what they’re doing
Curtiss: To be fair, the Cowboys’ Super Bowl window closed back in 2022 when they lost to Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round. Fast forward to now, the team looks entirely different. The roster is far worse than it was, head coach Mike McCarthy is gone, and there is no clear direction with this team. Things could change, but it’s hard to feel positive about the Cowboys.
Newly hired head coach Brian Schottenheimer isn’t necessarily bad, but it wasn’t the most inspiring hire in the entire coaching cycle. Owner/GM Jerry Jones has done more harm than good with his constant meddling in team operations, focusing more on getting the Cowboys’ attention instead of building a competent team, and his overall arrogance is why Dallas is where they are now.
Running backs are back, baby!
Mookie: Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Josh Jacobs were the three highest-profile free agent running backs last offseason. They finished first, second, and seventh respectively in rushing yards, with Barkley eclipsing the 2,000-yard mark and winning Offensive Player of the Year in his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles.
It turns out Barkley and Henry in particular weren’t washed or overrated; they just needed great offensive lines and great teams to flourish. This isn’t to say running backs are going to get large long-term deals again moving forward, but perhaps it’s time for a market correction after so much questioning about the validity and value of the position in recent years. Barkley gets to celebrate with a Super Bowl ring after a historically great debut with the Eagles.
Which teams were the most surprising?
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Mookie: The Commanders are the runaway most surprising team on the positive side. Even the most optimistic Commanders fan couldn’t have foreseen an NFC Championship run off the back of two road playoff wins against high-powered offenses. They’ll undoubtedly be considered in the running to win the NFC East next season… and perhaps a little more than that.
On the surprisingly terrible side, I always thought the New York Jets were overhyped and wouldn’t make the playoffs, but I didn’t think they would be this terrible. Their otherwise stingy defense fell apart, Aaron Rodgers was much worse than his stats suggested, and the level of dysfunction was too Jetsian even by Jets standards. The new GM Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn have one hell of a rebuild on their hands. I hope they like looking at Madden ratings.
Curtiss: Two teams come to mind. The first choice is the Washington Commanders. In no way, shape, or form did I think that they would be in the NFC Championship Game with a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels and with a head coach retread in Dan Quinn. Daniels elevated the entire team and they outperformed their expectations. Washington smashed its over/under win total and recorded its most victories in a season this century.
Second team? The Jacksonville Jaguars. It was surprising to see the Jags have the fall off that they did, two seasons removed from reaching the AFC Divisional Round. You could tell by how the team looked to start the season that this wasn’t going to end well for anyone. It might have been for the best because the Jags got a new coach in Liam Coen at the expense of firing general manager Trent Baalke. A win is a win I guess?
The most predictable ending
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Mookie: The Bills and the Lions losing in the playoffs the way they did was as predictable as it could get. One franchise has been notoriously close but not quite able to get over the top, while the other franchise is synonymous with losing. The Bills came up agonizingly short against the Chiefs for the umpteenth time, while Detroit’s best regular season in franchise history resulted in a 14-point loss to the Commanders. Jared Goff picked the worst time to turn into Jared Goof, while the decimated Lions defense had zero answers for Jayden Daniels. It would’ve been cool to see one of these two longsuffering franchises lift the Lombardi Trophy, but the wait continues.
Curtiss: The Steelers’ late-season collapse was something I saw coming from a mile away. It’s their MO. Start the season off overachieving (which gets everyone thinking they could be Super Bowl contenders) only to follow it up with an inexcusable loss and collapse down the stretch. Losing on Thursday Night Football to a Cleveland Browns team that had been struggling all year was a red flag everyone should’ve paid attention to more closely.
Against the top-tier playoff teams, they were completely outclassed in every way. From the offense being figured out to the defense calling each other out in back-to-back years, it was an ending everyone should’ve seen coming. Can’t wait to see it again next year but with steeper consequences.
Early bold prediction for the 2025 NFL Season?
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Curtiss: Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor will be the first coach to be fired. Taylor is the fourth-best coach in his division and the team has been notorious for slow starts to start the season and it has proven to be costly, as the Bengals have missed the postseason in each of the past two years. It was a telling sign when, throughout the course of this season, the locker room seemed to lose faith in Taylor judging by the interviews and the body language. If the Bengals get off to a slow start, Taylor could be out the door (even if Paul Brown’s pockets won’t allow it).
Mookie: The Detroit Lions will miss the playoffs. I do not doubt Dan Campbell is a very good head coach who has revitalized the Lions. The coaching brain drain is real, however, and there was a league-wide siphoning of Detroit’s assistants. By far the biggest move was offensive coordinator Ben Johnson becoming the Chicago Bears head coach. How much of Jared Goff’s career revival can be tied to the schematic brilliance of Johnson? We’ll find out pretty soon.
Any Goff regression (or even marginal offensive line regression) could make things very dicey in Detroit, even when they get their injured defensive stars back. Campbell was brutally honest when he said, “This may have been our only shot” when they lost to the 49ers in the NFC Championship two seasons ago. We might be finding out pretty soon if those were prescient words.
Anyway, refer back to this article when the Bengals and Lions are playing in Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara next February.
