Everyone loves to debate on who the greatest NFL team of all time was. Teams from yesteryear like the 1972 Miami Dolphins (who are still the only undefeated team of all time), the 1985 Chicago Bears, and the 1999 St. Louis Rams, or more modern teams like the 2013 Seahawks.
Philadelphia Eagles’ RB Saquon Barkley is ready to throw one more team into consideration: the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles.
While speaking on the Exciting Mics podcast (which is hosted by Eagles’ DBs Reed Blankenship and Cooper DeJean), Barkley had this to say about the 2024 Eagles:
“I firmly believe when you look at our team that we had last year … I think we’re a top-five team of all time. … If you really look at the season outside of the first four games, it was belt to ass.”
Barkley does make an interesting point. After a shaky 2-2 start to the season, the Eagles won 16 of their last 17 games, including a dominant Super Bowl victory. Their point differential over the course of the season was +160 per Pro Football Reference, which would be higher than the Super Bowl champions from 2018-2021 and outclass legendary teams like the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The playoff run the Eagles had really set them into an elite tier, shutting down legendary players and coaches like Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid on the biggest stage.
However, if we compare them to other historic teams, I’m not sure if the Eagles stack up well. Using FTN Fantasy’s historical DVOA database, the 2024 Eagles’ 21.3% total DVOA wouldn’t even be the highest DVOA from last season, let alone from the Super Bowl winning teams. Their DVOA would be on par with the 2000 Ravens, who were a great team, but probably not the greatest Super Bowl winning team of all time if we’re using DVOA. Those metrics would go to Washington in 1991, the 1985 Bears, and 1996 Green Bay Packers. Even if we wanted to keep it to teams post-2000, the 2004 Patriots, 2013 Seahawks and 2020 Bucs had higher DVOAs than the Eagles.
There’s a fair argument that the Eagles went on a great and dominant run in the playoffs. But greatest team of all time feels a bit too far.
