Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles take the early NFC East lead after Sunday's win

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Don’t look now, but the Philadelphia Eagles lead the NFC East with a 3-0 record.

Who saw this coming? Just several weeks ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were regarded as being one of the least promising teams in the NFL. Now they stand alone atop the NFC East mountain.

Granted, the NFC East is one of the easiest divisions to win in the NFL. The New York Giants are overrated, the Washington Redskins are a sloppy football team with awful coaching and a bottom-of-the-barrel quarterback (I said it!) and the Dallas Cowboys are in the midst of what could possibly be a long-term identity shift at the quarterback position.

As many factors as there are to the Eagles’ early success, it’s hard to imagine where this team would be without Carson Wentz, who wasn’t even supposed to dress for games this season until Sam Bradford was traded to the Minnesota Vikings. Wentz has exceeded everyone’s expectations and looks to be exactly what the Eagles had hoped for when they traded up to get him in this year’s draft.

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Jim Schwartz’s hard-nosed defense is also largely responsible for the Eagles’ perfect start. The Philly defense currently ranks fourth in the NFL in total defense, allowing only 27 total points in the first three weeks of the 2016 season. The fact that Schwartz’s defense was able to hold the Pittsburgh Steelers’ potent offense to only three points Sunday is completely mind-blowing and that deserves a fair share of recognition.

The best part? It’s still only Week 3 of the season. The team is still getting better.

It’s hard to tell exactly where the Eagles will be several months from now, but it’s not crazy to assume they’ll be preparing for some postseason football.

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