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Doug Pederson enjoys early playoff success with Philadelphia Eagles

By Travis Steffen

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 10: Head Coach Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles watches the action during the game against the Los Angeles Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 10, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 10: Head Coach Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles watches the action during the game against the Los Angeles Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 10, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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Second-year head coach Doug Pederson has already shown great success in Philadelphia making it to the NFC Championship. How far can he take the Eagles?

Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson took his first head coaching job in Philadelphia following the 2015 season. Pederson spent the previous three years as the Chiefs offensive coordinator, and he also took some play-calling responsibilities away from head coach Andy Reid in the second half of his last year in K.C.. Speaking of Reid, not only does he come from the Andy Reid coaching tree, but he also played for Reid back in Philadelphia.

Many Eagles fans were uninspired by the hire considering that Pederson had little experience coaching at that level and the fact that he came from the Andy Reid coaching tree. Reid had just been fired by the Eagles following the 2012 season. Three years later the team decides to hire one of his coordinators. For the fans that didn’t care much for Reid, this was a blast from the past.

When Pederson went to the Eagles, they had just fired head coach Chip Kelly. The former Oregon University head coach was given power over the entire team and traded or cut many of their big-time weapons—names like DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Lesean McCoy, Evan Mathis and Trent Cole. The Eagles decided to fire Kelly after week 16 in the 2015 season and gave the job to Pederson that offseason.

There was a lot of work to be done when Pederson came to Philadelphia considering the roster moves from the previous coach. Pederson and general manager Howie Roseman traded up in the 2016 draft to select North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz. The plan was for Wentz to sit for a year and learn until the Eagles decided to trade quarterback Sam Bradford to the Vikings right before the season started.

Being thrown to the wolves, Wentz struggled his rookie year after starting the season 3-0. The team finished 7-9 missing the playoffs for the second year in a row. With a new head coach and a rookie quarterback with little weapons, the expectations were low going into the season.

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Pederson and Roseman spent the offseason leading into 2017 bringing in weapons to surround Wentz. Some of those players are wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, running backs LeGarrette Blount and later Jay Ajayi, and defensive help like Chris Long and Timmy Jernigan.

In 2017, the Eagles tied for the best record in the league at 13-3. Even after losing players to injury, including their star quarterback that was in the race for an MVP season, the Eagles continue to win games. The Eagles’ coach has gone 20-12 in the regular season the last two years and now 1-0 in the playoffs.

With their backup quarterback Nick Foles, former Chiefs backup, the Eagles just defeated the Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional round of the playoffs to advance to the NFC Championship. In two years of coaching his own team, Pederson has taken his team further than Reid has taken the Chiefs in the last five years. Reid is 1-4 in the postseason while coaching the Chiefs and has not made it past the divisional round of the playoffs.

The Eagles will host the winner of the New Orleans Saints vs Minnesota Vikings game next week. Will Pederson be able to make it to the Super Bowl in just his second year as a head coach?

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