We made it!

Super Bowl 59 is now just hours away. By the end of tonight, we’ll have crowned a champion of this NFL season. Hopefully, that’ll be accompanied by thousands celebrating on Broad Street and a parade this week.

Two years ago, the Eagles made it to this stage before losing in heartbreaking fashion. To the credit of the entire franchise, they are back. Logic says they’ll be at this point again in the not-to-distant future.

But is their best shot at a championship with this group?

Here’s why a sense of now-or-never hovers over tonight’s Super Bowl.

I know, I know.

The Eagles have one of the youngest defenses in the NFL. The core of this team (Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Landon Dickerson, Jordan Mailata, Cam Jurgens, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean) have a long runway left in their careers and should be in Eagles uniforms together for at least a few more cracks at this thing.

But not every member of this loaded roster will be here forever, or even a month from now. All-Pro linebacker Zach Baun, under-the-radar defensive tackle Milton Williams and right guard Mekhi Becton are all free agents. Saquon Barkley likely will never have this great of a season again. If the Eagles choose to keep the band together and re-sign young stars on defense to second contracts, salary cap gymnastics could necessitate tough decisions. For the first time in a long time, an elite quarterback could be a division rival, complicating the path to division titles, home playoff games and favorable paths through January. The NFC looks to be on the rise, with smart, forward-thinking front offices and staffs in place in Washington, Detroit, Green Bay, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minnesota and Arizona. If Ben Johnson is the real deal in Chicago and Bryce Young’s resurgence is a precursor of things to come, quarterback play could be as deep as its been in decades in the conference. Much like 2023, the 2025 Eagles are going to be faced with replacing an offensive coordinator late in the hiring cycle.

As long as Howie Roseman is pulling the strings, the Eagles will compete. We shouldn’t expect a huge fall off. It’s easy to imagine another NFC Championship in the next handful of years. But when there’s two Super Bowl appearances in a three year span with this great of a roster, the deal has to be sealed. Otherwise it could go down as an all-time organizational what if.

Now or never? That might be strong. But failing to win this one has the chance to be the kind of regret we’d talk about for a long, long time. Hopefully, everyone in Eagles green has an enormous sense of urgency tonight in New Orleans.

The Eagles Radio Network Pregame show will start at 3p this afternoon with Countdown to Kickoff. You can listen on 94WIP or the Audacy app. At 4p, we’ll live stream the show on YouTube. Come on out to Live Casino to watch the pregame and game with our WIP watch party.

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Go Birds!