I’m lucky to be alive. On Sunday night, while sitting comfortably in the Eagles car, I was trampled by an exodus of millions of Eagle fans. Only Swoop (Birds mascot) and me remain. The road is now bumpy and the sky has darkened. However, I am alive, and contrary to popular belief, so are the Philadelphia Eagles.
I know what you’re thinking… I’m a partial idiot who can’t accept the failure of another season… you’re probably right. After all, I once rode solo in the Eagles car when Richie Kotite drove it right off a cliff, but that’s beside the point. The Eagles are in the playoffs. The conclusion to his 2009 season has yet to be written. A victory on Saturday will not be easy. In fact, it will take a gigantic effort. As Harvey Dent (yes, the man from Batman) once said, “The night is always darkest before the dawn.” Here is my quest to bring everyone back, or at least my dad.
You’ll argue: Dallas beat Philadelphia twice this year, pretty easily too.
Really true. The Eagles’ performances against the Cowboys have been two of his ugliest outings. This is the most difficult case to argue, by far. I am up to the challenge. Don’t worry, I promise not to nag you with the cliché, “it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season.” I don’t buy that crap anyway. The Eagles lost to the Giants three times in the 2000 season. Last year, the Ravens lost to the Steelers three times (not a real word, I know). Beating the same team three times happens most of the time, so I’m avoiding that defense. Instead, I’ll build my case on the experience factor, the propensity of Andy Reid teams to bounce back after devastating losses, and most importantly, “just any Sunday.”
Tony Romo has… count ’em… zero playoff wins. Donovan McNabb has nine. McNabb hasn’t been the most electrifying postseason quarterback, but winning is winning. McNabb understands what it takes to win in January. The same goes for Wade Phillips (0) and Reid (10). At the top two positions of any football team, the Eagles hold an overwhelming 19-0 lead.
I could spend an entire weekend detailing Reid’s horrible personal decisions (early years), game calls, and the granddaddy of them all; game management Why waste time? There are two things every Eagle fan wants to change but can’t. 1. Reid’s game management. 2. Reid’s side style when the temperature is above 60 degrees. With that out of the way, Reid is exceptional at cheering on his team. See Arizona on Thanksgiving in 2008 after being crushed by Baltimore, or the Eagles rebounding (12-2 to close the season) after starting the 2003 season with humiliating losses to the Bucs and Patriots (to open the Linc, though), Or overcoming McNabb’s injury and back-to-back blowouts against Tennessee and Indy in 2006 to go 5-0 and win the NFC East with Jeff Garcia. Like the continuous sentence above, the list goes on and on. The media perceives Reid’s short-term memory and the phrase “we’ve got to do a better job there” as arrogance. In reality, his example of forgetting and moving on requires his team to do the same.
Any Sunday. No, not the movie, the beginning. The Giants winning Super Bowl XLII, the Cardinals’ extraordinary run in the 2008 playoffs, the Browns shocking the Steelers to ruin Pittsburgh’s season (Ok, that was a Thursday game). Any team, in any stadium, on any day, can win a soccer match. We see this more in the NFL than in any other league. Let’s wait till we hear the fat lady before we yell drown ourselves.
You’ll argue: Eagles offense is too inconsistent
Agree, 113% agree. The Eagles’ offense is wildly inconsistent. They’re unstoppable one quarter and reeling the next. You’re right, if we only had the offensive consistency of the Dallas Cowbo… what is this? Another volatile offense? Indeed. Dallas is one of the best teams in the NFL, but even Romo and company are struggling to keep their collective foot on the gas. Take a look at his points in the second half of Dallas’ last eight games; 7*, 3, 7, 14*, 14*, 7, 3, 7. (The *’s represent junk TDs that were scored in losses with 38, 58, and 2 seconds remaining in decided games, respectively.) averaged 5.13 points in the second half, or 7.75 if you include junk TDs. Not precisely illuminating the marker. Don’t bother arguing that Dallas already had the win, either. In four of those eight games, they trailed in the second half (eventually losing three). Another game was against New Orleans, which they almost came back. In the remaining three games alone, Dallas led by two or more scores (OAK, WASH, PHI).
You will argue: I hate it when Donovan McNabb smiles when he should be fuming
Me too. A little Tom Brady please, huh Don?
You will argue: Donovan McNabb sucks. He’ll never bring home a Super Bowl
My friends, my friends. Yes, his “I’m the victim” persona is annoying, and Peyton Manning isn’t, but Donovan McNabb is an excellent quarterback. McNabb’s inaccuracy is the rallying cry of the KKNC (Kevin Kolb Now Clan). Not so fast. Let me introduce a guy named John Elway. You see, Elway was never the most accurate quarterback. He, like McNabb, also experienced trouble winning Super Bowls during the first 14 years of his 16-year career. I know most of you just slammed your fist down on your desk and thought (maybe yelled), “Oh no, he didn’t.” Well I did. If McNabb plays another 5-6 NFL seasons, he’ll likely surpass Elway in almost every statistical category except interceptions. Now I’m going to wait seven seconds for those of you who fell out of the chair to locate… Are we okay? Let’s continue. Over the course of his 16-year career, Elway completed 60% or more of his passes in just three seasons, finishing with a career mark of 56.9%. McNabb is currently at 59% of his career. He has broken the 60% plateau four times in his career, including the past three seasons. McNabb doesn’t have the Super Bowl victories that Elway has … yet. Old Johnny finally achieved Super Bowl gold in the 15th and 16th years of his illustrious career. While McNabb has won many big games throughout his career (you don’t win 9 playoff games and 4 1/2 division titles without winning big games; I can list them if you want), he has yet to reach the top of the mountain of championship. I believe in McNabb. I think he is improving. I know he won’t give shit like Saturday. If only he could play safety too…