PHILADELPHIA -- Six games in, and the expectations have completely shifted for the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles.

Most preseason predictions had them somewhere in the range of seven to nine wins. Even internally, there were those who held the belief that the team was a year or so away from being legitimate contenders. Then came the 5-1 start.

The Eagles have the best record in football entering Week 7. The postseason odds are now strongly tilted in their favor. They have an 88 percent chance to win the NFC East and a 95 percent chance to make the playoffs, per FPI. They also have the greatest chance of earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC (45 percent) and are the early favorites to make it to the Super Bowl (31 percent).

Yes, the Super Bowl. It's a term that you'll now hear attached to the Eagles on local sports talk radio or water cooler conversation.

Coach Doug Pederson acknowledged that managing the team's mindset is part of his work week now that the buzz has picked up.

"Yeah, I do focus on it, and I have to," he said. "For me, it's about winning this week and nothing further. A lot of football left. If you remember, I think we were 4-2 at this time last year. We have to be mindful of that. Those are the things that motivate us and keep us going. There can't be a letdown. It's my job not to have that letdown with the team. I continue to address it with them and keep them focused that way."

Pederson was part of the 1996 championship Green Bay Packers squad, serving as Brett Favre's backup. What he remembers about the makeup of that group was how narrowly focused it was on the task at hand, where "you could honestly throw the wins and losses away" because it wall all about being 1-0 that week. Judging by players' responses, Pederson has been drilling that message home.

"With the Redskins coming to town, everyone kind of knows how big this game is. That's all we're really focused on in this building," tight end Zach Ertz said. "This is a huge game for us -- either 6-1 or 5-2, it's a big difference in our eyes, so we're just focused on this game. ... And I'm going to give that answer all day."

There are players on the team with Super Bowl wins in their history as well, including defensive end Chris Long, who got a ring with the New England Patriots last season, as well as safety Malcolm Jenkins, part of the 2009 New Orleans Saints championship team.

"That team grew into its own identity, it won a bunch of close games, got lucky a couple times, but it was definitely a close group," Jenkins said. "Guys hung out. They loved each other, enjoyed each other, grew with each other, knew each other's families, spent a lot of time with each other outside of this building. All of those things are present in this locker room, but at the end of the day it's what you do on the field. And I think we're building obviously towards that, but not there yet."

Recent experience appears to be keeping the Eagles grounded. They jumped to a 3-0 start and were 4-2 at this point last season. Quarterback Carson Wentz has mentioned on multiple occasions that he views this team in a much different light than the '16 version, though.

"We're made different this year," he said. "We have a different character makeup in that locker room, and nobody is going to ever settle for anything less than greatness."