Jacob Willis, contributor

Super Bowl LVII was everything a modern day football fan could have hoped for. A shootout between two MVP caliber quarterbacks and a down to the wire finish was exactly what was to be expected from the high powered offenses of the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. Not only did we get a great game, but we got a great deal of controversy and speculation. What would a Super Bowl be without a little controversy anyway? From a debatable fourth quarter holding call to people claiming the losing quarterback should have won MVP, there is plenty to dissect from 2023’s rendition of America’s greatest sports tradition. 

I have never understood why football is commonly seen by non-football fans as a game for dumb brutes. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Football is a smart man’s game through and through. To be able to understand all of the play calls, the audibles, the on-the-fly adjustments all takes a great deal of intelligence. There has been no greater example of this than Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s play calling this past Sunday. It seemed as if the Eagles’ defense could do nothing to stop the Air Raid attack of the Chiefs in the second half. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts played a great game, and if he had won the game he would have been an obvious MVP, but seeing an all time coaching performance like this is never something to be taken for granted. But this all brings up a very compelling question: where are the Eagles going from here? 

One word that can be used to describe the Eagles’ future is uncertain. The Eagles have now lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators. They are the first team in almost three decades to suffer this sort of blow to the coaching staff. On the offensive side of the ball, losing coordinator Shane Steichen could be a tough transition for Jalen Hurts. Remember, Steichen is the man that helped Jalen Hurts develop into an MVP caliber quarterback ever since he was hired in 2021. Of course, I am not implying that Hurts wouldn’t be a great quarterback without Steichen, but we can’t overlook the importance of an offensive coordinator that finds the right system for the right player. Just look at what Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman did in Baltimore with Lamar Jackson. Roman turned Jackson into a unanimous MVP with the help of an offensive scheme that was tailored to fit him.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles are losing the man behind Philadelphia’s top 10 defense, Jonathan Gannon. Don’t let last Sunday’s shaky performance fool you, the Eagles had a dominant defense this year. Of course, Gannon had so much to do with this. Philadelphia’s strong defense even carried them to set a franchise record for sacks in the NFC Championship Game. Needless to say, Gannon’s impact was paramount. Now, do these losses mean the Eagles are going to become a doormat in the NFC? Of course not. We should expect the Eagles to remain a clear playoff team this upcoming season. But we also shouldn’t expect the same level of dominance we saw this year, especially not with the rising giants in the NFC. The Dallas Cowboys, the San Francisco 49ers and even the Washington Commanders are teams that all look like they could do some damage next season. Philadelphia’s road is only getting tougher from here. After the big loss on Super Bowl Sunday as well as the two big losses from their coaching staff not even 48 hours after, it looks like Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni has his work cut out for him.