NFL Wild-Card Woes: Can the Eagles and Other Losers Turn Their Season Around or Is Trouble Brewing?

After soaring to the pinnacle with a Super Bowl triumph, whispers of a Philadelphia Eagles dynasty were buzzing loud and proud. But well, that dream fizzled out faster than you can say “Philly Special.” The 2024 squad was stacked, steamrolling through the season and steamrolling the Chiefs in the big game — it seemed they had the right pieces to hoist the Lombardi multiple times. Yet, as the season unraveled, the brutal truth slapped us all awake: clinching one championship is a monumental feat, but defending it? That’s an entirely different beast. History shows that even the mightiest Super Bowl champs struggle to strike gold twice. Now, with roster shake-ups looming and questions swirling around key players and coaching roles, Philly stands at a crossroads — will they rebound to glory or stumble further into mediocrity? The saga unfolds, and you bet I’ll be watching every twist and turn. LEARN MORE

There was potential dynasty talk with the Philadelphia Eagles after they won the Super Bowl last season. That didn’t last long.

It was understandable though. They had a roster loaded with talent and were dominant for most of the 2024 season, including a blowout Super Bowl win over the Chiefs. It looked like the Eagles could win multiple Super Bowls with this core.

What the Eagles reminded us all is that winning once is hard and doing it again is much, much harder. Super Bowl champions almost always look like they’re a threat to win multiple titles, and it almost never happens.

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The question the Eagles face is whether they’ll be closer to the championship team from 2024 or the good but frustrating team from this season. There will be changes. There was trade speculation with A.J. Brown before Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers even ended. That happens after the type of season Brown had, with more drama than big plays. The offensive coordinator almost has to change after Kevin Patullo was unsuccessful in replacing Kellen Moore. The Eagles’ offense was bad all season, which seems impossible given the talent they have.

Some stars will be at an age in which a steep fall could be coming, like tight end Dallas Goedert (who will be 31 next season), linebacker Zack Baun (30 next season), Saquon Barkley (29 next season, an age in which running backs often slow down) and offensive tackle Lane Johnson (36 next season).

Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles had a disappointing end to their season. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

(Mitchell Leff via Getty Images)

It’s hard to know what the Eagles will be. A complete reset isn’t going to happen. The talent is still undeniable. It shouldn’t be a big surprise if the Eagles bounce right back to be a Super Bowl favorite, like they did after collapsing late in the 2023 season. But changes have to happen after a miserable season. It’s just a matter of whether it will be an extreme makeover or just some rearranging. But either way, the Eagles will be one of the more fascinating teams of the offseason.

Panic meter: The Eagles should be OK next season … right?

Panthers have some good vibes

We shouldn’t get too excited about a team that went 8-10, including playoffs, with two losses to the Saints and another to the Cardinals. However, there were good signs, especially in the two games against the Rams.

The Panthers beat the Rams in the regular season and came within a minute of doing it again in the playoffs. The Rams scored the game-winning touchdown with 38 seconds left. It was the rare playoff loss in which the losing team should have felt pretty good coming out of it.

The Panthers showed they have good young talent, particularly at receiver with Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker. The franchise has benefited from some stability, which has been very rare since David Tepper bought the team. Whether the Panthers move forward will depend on whether Bryce Young, who played well in the loss to the Rams, becomes a more prolific passer. Young had some good moments but still threw for just 3,011 yards and managed 11 interceptions as a low-volume passer. But at least there is some hope for a franchise that has had a rough decade otherwise.

Panic meter: At least there’s finally something to feel good about

Packers try to get over rough finish

It’s hard to not feel like the sky is falling after the Packers lost their last five games, including an epic collapse to the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round.

It was an awful end, but the Packers are still in fine shape. They have had a very young roster for the past few seasons. They fell apart after some big season-ending injuries, particularly to defensive end Micah Parsons and tight end Tucker Kraft. Presumably those two will return early in the 2026 season. There are questions about Matt LaFleur after many blown leads last season. It appears he’ll return, but will do so with more pressure than at any other point in his tenure.

The Packers aren’t going to disappear. It only seems that way because of the miserable finish to the season.

Panic meter: The Pack will be back, but it will be a long offseason

Jaguars’ surprising season ends early

It’s hard to not feel pretty good after going 13-4 with a division title, even if they couldn’t overcome Josh Allen and the Bills in the wild-card round. Liam Coen’s first season was a smashing success. It seems like it will keep rolling on next season.

Maybe. We’ve seen teams, such as the Washington Commanders, have a huge spike one season and then fall back a bit. It’s hard to get better after improving by nine wins from the previous season. There’s no great reason to believe the Jaguars were a fluke (they were sixth in DVOA this season with a +138 point differential), but we see teams rise and fall quickly.

Panic meter: It looks good, but expecting another 13-win season is difficult

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Chargers have some issues to monitor

Last postseason, the most disappointing team was the Chargers. Until the Steelers played on Monday night, the Chargers led the race for that dubious award yet again. It’s hard to figure there’s some fatal flaw that is causing the Chargers to tank hard when they get to the playoffs, but it is a bit concerning.

Still, this seems like a team that will be a perennial playoff contender with Jim Harbaugh. The one key factor is whether defensive coordinator Jesse Minter returns or if he gets a head-coaching job. He had a fantastic year and good coordinators can be tough to replace. Ask the Detroit Lions. If Minter is back, the next question becomes the health of offensive tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt. The Chargers desperately need them back, and to get better on the interior of the line too. But if Minter is back and the offensive line is improved, there’s no reason the Chargers can’t be a Super Bowl contender next season. As long as they figure out why they’ve been a terrible playoff team lately.

Panic meter: If Minter returns, the Chargers might be really dangerous

Steelers staring at a rebuild

At some point, there’s little point in continuing to run things back when there’s no hope for a better result in the future.

Time seems to have run out on this version of the Steelers. The Steelers got blown out on Monday night, not putting up a touchdown in a 30-6 loss to the Texans. It might not have felt like the end of an era if it wasn’t so predictable. The Steelers haven’t been a true championship contender in a long time, and they never resembled that this season either. With an aging defense and the likely retirement of Aaron Rodgers, it’s unlikely to get much better by next season.

The Steelers have resisted major change at their head-coaching position and haven’t had to rebuild in a long time. After Mike Tomlin’s seventh straight playoff loss, which ties an NFL record, a coaching change and blowing up the roster might be on the table. We’ll see how ownership views it. Either way, of all the wild-card weekend losers, the Steelers probably should have the least optimism going forward. It could be a rough season in 2026, whether they keep the core intact or they change it out. At least the latter option would provide a path to becoming a championship contender again, even if it will take a while.

Panic meter: It might be time for the Steelers to start over