The Super Bowl hangover is as real as that shiny Lombardi Trophy teams hoist in their moments of euphoria every winter.

A month into the 2018 season, the Eagles, struggling at 2-2 as they play the Vikings on Sunday in Philadelphia, do not appear to be immune from the sometimes-season-debilitating condition.

Through the first four games, the Eagles have looked like anything but the defending champions. Entering the season as a virtual lock to at least win the NFC East again, the division looks completely up for grabs with the Redskins in first place at 2-1 and the Cowboys tied with Philly at 2-2.

They have a minus-3 turnover differential, which is tied for 26th in the league. Their receivers have 12 drops and are on pace for 48 on the season. Star quarterback, Carson Wentz, who is back after a torn ACL and LCL, has been sacked nine times and hit 17 times in the two games he has played.

Coach Doug Pederson, on an effort to help make his team cognizant of the hangover pitfalls, has pushed the mantra “Embrace the target” since the offseason, referring to opposing teams elevating their games in an effort to knock off the champions.

The Eagles surely will get the best from the Vikings, whom they routed 38-7 in the NFC Championship game in January.

“We have to understand that we are champions … and you’re expected to play a certain way,” Pederson told reporters. “When you don’t live up to that expectation, we need to just zero down on it and figure out why. The sense of urgency from players and coaches needs to heighten just a little bit.’’



Most surprising about the Eagles’ early-season malaise is the struggle of their offense — particularly with Wentz back.

Last season, the Eagles scored at least 26 points in 14 of their 19 games, including the Super Bowl. Through four games this season, they haven’t scored more than 23.

To be fair, Wentz is returning from a serious knee injury and there have been injuries to receiver Alshon Jeffery, do-it-all running back Darren Sproles and fellow back Corey Clement.

The Eagles also are breaking in a new offensive coordinator, Mike Groh, who took over for Frank Reich after he left to become head coach of the Colts.

Since the Patriots repeated as champions in 2003 and 2004, no team has won back-to-back Super Bowls. In the 13 seasons since, just two teams returned to the Super Bowl the following season — the 2017 Patriots and the 2014 Seahawks.

In that span, five defending champions failed to qualify for the playoffs — the 2016 Broncos, 2013 Ravens, 2012 Giants and the 2009 and 2006 Steelers.

An interesting perspective on this was offered by Philadelphia defensive tackle Michael Bennett, who played for Seattle before the Eagles this past offseason. Bennett played in consecutive Super Bowls with the Seahawks.

“You can’t be focused on the Super Bowl,’’ Bennett said in an interview with Eagles Wire. “If you focus on the Super Bowl too much, you focus on not losing instead of winning [and] it becomes even harder to do.’’