By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Eagles 2016 season was a season of growth. With a new coach and new quarterback, both rookies in their positions, there were going to be growing pains.
After a smashing start with a 3-0 record, the Eagles fizzled out quickly, finishing the season with a 4-9 record and missing the playoffs for the third straight season.
It makes the 2017 season a show me season for not on the team on the field, but a coaching staff, headed by Doug Pederson, that was supposed to bring a sense of normalcy back to the sidelines and locker room after the Chip Kelly debacle. Pederson, though, is raising the stakes on the 2017 season, and that may make his seat even hotter moving forward.
“There has to be a combination of blending all of this talent with a coaching staff, with my ideas and philosophy, to bring all that together, with the egos aside,” Pederson said to Philly.com. “And just go focus on winning this game that we have in front of us. I’m a big believer that if you do that, then you look back at the end of the season, and you’re probably going to be where you want to be, and that’s playing in the postseason.”
Pederson prefaced those comments by saying this season’s Eagles team probably has more talent than the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl teams of the 90s.
That’s quite a statement, one that certainly applies more pressure to the current group and the head coach himself.
Pederson’s point is that there is a window of opportunity to win, and for the Eagles, it could still be opening. But the constant improvement is what’s needed at this stage.
“Sometimes when you’re building a roster, teams that get to that Super Bowl, it takes three years, four years, five years in, and if you constantly change, I don’t see how you can get there,” Pederson said. “Now with that being said, there has to be consistency and there has to be improvement this year. I get that. I’m not naïve to that or anything.
“I’m not going to worry about next season, my job.”
But given the way coaches have come and gone in the Philadelphia sports scene, maybe Pederson should be slightly concerned.
There is typically a three-year window for a coach to make an impact and improve a team that he may have joined at the bottom. But without some noticeable progress, it becomes a question of coaching. It always has. Pederson is only entering his second season, so he may have a little time, but the leash will only get shorter beyond this season if he’s not able to top a 7-9 record.
On paper, the Eagles did make improvements and that should have them in a better position to compete and be more successful. But everything still has to play out, still has to come together in order for this to work. In a fanbase that has seen its patience tested over recent years, there isn’t much room for error. If it isn’t working, Pederson’s seat will only get hotter.
That starts next season, now more than ever since Pederson has seemingly raised the stakes.
“If we go 8-8, is that a successful year?” Pederson said. “I don’t coach to be average — I’ll tell you that.”
