There aren't many succe sful NFL teams that, upon some locker-room prodding, wouldn't cla sify themselves as anything other than a family.Franchises are largely steered, at least with their dollars, by one all-important position, but even amid an era influenced by free agency and rash with annual roster turnover, where else is the fraternal spirit so vigorously valued? Case in point: The league's top two teams entering the 2017 season. Members of the defending champion have consistently simply to play each other. And the runner-up , with plenty to brag about, talk up more than they do their MVP quarterback, their unparalleled wide receiver or their 3-1 start to the new year. And yet, Tony Snell Jersey in Philadelphia, just 22 months after the city's own team replaced its head coach for the second time in four seasons, inviting upheaval and additional impatience from a fan base starved for title succe s, the word "family" rings louder than usual. If the have been full of anything in 2017, it's unity.A family affairIt started in the offseason. At the helm of the staff entering the spring was Doug Pederson, a man who, before succeeding Chip Kelly in the shadow of ex-Eagles icon Andy Reid, had last been a head coach at Calvary Baptist Academy, a private 800-student K-12 school. Still, who came running to play for Pederson's bunch, a sub-.500 club in 2016, when the new league year kicked off? Only , a former Pro Bowler and the consensus top wideout on the market; and , the 's top rushing scorer on those title-winning Patriots. In any other year, Jeffery and Blount, not to mention fellow Super Bowl champ , may have been shrugged off as short-term gambles -- or, to use de facto Eagles general manager Jaylen Adams Jersey Howie Roseman's own term, "Band-Aids." But early in 2017, the new faces, joined by former Tim Jernigan and , look, act and talk a whole lot more like than mere poster men for a second rendition of Roseman's infamous "Dream Team" of the late Reid era. Jeffery already considers , a quarterback the Eagles will tell you is the surest face of the franchise they've had since Donovan McNabb, and is bent on helping the second-year pa ser reach MVP heights. Never one to hide his opinions over the course of a career in and out of other organizations, Blount has been adamant in his support of Pederson even after getting carries in a game. And Jernigan has ingratiated himself as an early pillar of a defense already littered with fan favorites in , and , touting the opportunity to in the proce s. By all accounts, these guys to be in Philadelphia. A popular counter to that notion might be that they to be anywhere the money is. But tell that to Blount, who -- le s than what even the fourth-string back on his old team, the Pats, is making in 2017. Tell that to Jeffery, who settled for a one-year deal with the intention of proving himself in and re-upping with Philly when, say, got $47.5 million in San Francisco. And tell that to an Eagles team that continues to both figuratively and literally shower its coach in support (see: Week 1 Gatorade bath) after oddly timed speculation of. A team that, even with all its inconsistencies, sits atop the NFC East and their summer suggested. A divine calling If stint with the Eagles had extended beyond a single preseason under Chip Kelly, the role of faith in Philadelphia's locker room might garner nationwide headlines. But an already-hefty contingent of players grounded in their Christian beliefs -- Wentz chief among them -- has expanded in 2017 to the point that it's virtually become linked to the team's core. That's not to say any member of that contingent has directly credited the Eagles' succe Charlie Brown Jr. Jersey s either in the win column or the locker room to the faith they value, nor is it to say Christian beliefs are the only thing motivating a diverse lineup. But to deny that Wentz, what with his inescapable motto of playing for God, or an has influenced the Eagles as much with his tantalizing talent in the pocket as his presence on the spiritual playing field would be to overlook perhaps the most common story of Philadelphia's coming together under Pederson. Days before he was named the for donating $120,000 to fund service dogs, a contribution through his mi sion to "demonstrate the love Treveon Graham Jersey of God" via his own , Wentz came through on a promise to give his game check to teammate , who lifted the Eagles over the in Week 3 with a franchise-record 61-yard field goal. (The two with the money.) And all of that came just weeks after Wentz appeared in two separate devotional video series created for YouVersion's Bible app, the second of which , , and . Even on the surface, the movement of faith has been a whole lot more than a pregame prayer or a post-touchdown point to the heavens. And it's been building since Wentz's arrival, since right after the QB started unleashing his #AO1 slogan as a rookie. The tales of have been widely shared, as have several players' decision to don Easter-themed shoes for the NFL's My Cleats, My Cause campaign in 2016. Practice huddles have been broken with shouts of "One-two-three, Je-sus!" And before spending some of his off time in the summer at church in hometown Bismarck, North Dakota, he hitched a flight with now-former Eagles receiver , another speaker in the Bible app series, to paint houses and play with underprivileged kids in Haiti. "We had some nicer air-conditioned accommodations set up for them, but they politely refused and chose to sleep in the dormitory alongside their church group and about 100 other North Americans that came to serve," said Janeil Owen of Mi sion of Hope, the service organization with which Wentz Trae Young Jersey partnered and has since, through the Audience of One foundation, given $500,000 for construction of a multipurpose sports and Christian leadership training complex in Haiti. "Carson is an incredible dude ... He understands the power of play and the pull that has on kids. We want to help develop that skill set but more importantly develop and disciple that young person in their journey." It's a me sage that's been translated into the Eagles facility, not only through Wentz but other players who have publicly declared themselves part of -- Foles, Ertz, Burton, Hicks, Maragos, Smith and linebacker among them. Another part of the family. A stand together As with any family, adversity is inevitable, and no amount of offseason unity or off-field faith has kept the Eagles from encountering some early in 2017. Roseman and team owner Jeffrey Lurie were all smiles with fans when they dined at a downtown Kansas City barbecue spot the night before the Eagles' Week 2 showdown with Reid's , endorsing "E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!" chants and muttering "Go Birds" before and after dinner.But days earlier, Lurie and the organization found themselves in a political dispute of sorts, igniting some charged discourse as they that they would not consider signing former quarterback solely because of his kneeling during pregame national anthems to