Repeating: Eagles made too many changes

PHILADELPHIA >> The Eagles went 57 seasons between world championships, some of them disappointing, some of them unfortunate, too many of them abominable. Fiftyseven. Longer than Doug Pederson had been alive.

They were the best in the world in 1960, then again after the 2017 season, when they won the Super Bowl on a day when Tom Brady passed for 500 yards. Easy, it was not. Just the same, Pederson was quick to declare a fresh trend.

“The new normal,” is what he would call it. His message was clear: It wouldn’t take 57 years the next time. Not even 56.

If he was captured by the moment, blinded by the confetti, distracted by the parade-goers, it was understandable that Pederson would believe that 1-for-57 could soon be 2-for-58. But he’d been around pro football long enough to know it doesn’t work that way. And unless something changes, and quickly, it’s not going to work that way for the Eagles of 2018. They are 3-4. And after a 21-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers Sunday, they already are at a crisis point.

And that’s because too much changed, and too soon.

Professional sports having its own dynamic, it is impossible to keep everything in order from one season to the next. Players age. Bones crack. Agents crack, too, demanding more money for their clients. Drafting occurs.

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MARK TENALLY/ASSOCIATED PRESS Panthers wide receiver Torrey Smith (11), who spent last season winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles, is now enjoying the view from Carolina as the Birds struggle.