By Dan Ketler, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
Last Thanksgiving Day, there wasn’t a whole lot for Eagles’ fans to be thankful for in regards to their team. The Philadelphia Eagles were routed by the Detroit Lions, 45-14, last season, but a lot has changed since then.
The Eagles were under heavy scrutiny during the 2015 season, largely due to former head coach Chip Kelly’s problematic coaching schemes. His fast-paced offense wasn’t much to brag about after 3 seasons. As fast as the offense moved, they got off the field even fasted which took a toll on the defense.
This season the offense has been humming, now that it’s under Doug Pederson’s control. The team is ranked third in the NFL and seems to be playing at a high level.
The Lions finished 7-9 last season, which was exactly the same record as the 2015 Eagles. The Lions utilized future Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson and picked away at rookie cornerback, Eric Rowe. Even though last year’s Lions weren’t able to obtain a better record than the Eagles, they bested them nonetheless in four quarters of football.
This season the Eagles have completely revamped their defense. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has found a way to create a high-powered defense by taking full advantage of a talented front seven, which continuously puts pressure on opposing quarterbacks and gives the secondary the helping hand they need to keep up with some of the best wide receivers in the game.
Of course, Schwartz’s defensive wizardry could not possibly prevail without Pederson’s approach to simplifying things on offense. Things look much more calm with Carson Wentz at quarterback. The young rookie is poised in the pocket and knows exactly how to adjust to defenses.
This season has gone better than most have hoped but its not even close to being over. The bye week came at a good time, but there’s still many more tests to past before we can deem the 2016 Philadelphia Eagles an overall success.
Detroit is currently 1-3 on the season, but don’t let their record fool you. In their first four games three of them have been decided by four or less points. The Eagles look good, but they need to continue to play with the same confidence as they’ve been playing with if they want to keep that “0” in the loss column of their record.
