As I sit down to write this article on Saturday afternoon our beloved Eagles are a pedestrian 4-3 nearing the halfway point of the season. Whether the Eagles won or lost the Jacksonville game Sunday is irrelevant to the point that the Birds could and should, by popular belief, be an undefeated 7-0 heading into that game. The Eagles opened up the season winning at Houston. That was expected. Dream of what the world would be like if the Texans had opened up a season with a victory. Then wake up and watch them get pulverized by the once and future NFC Champs. Dear Houston Texans, please get an offensive line. Love, David Carr.
So they got past the Texans, and what are we supposed to do, throw a parade? The Texans can barely put their pads on let alone compete with the Eagles.
Next the boys in green faced the dreaded New York Giants and squashed them for an entire half. The Giants came back, and back, and back some more. I mean you cannot even make this stuff up. It was an all-time great comeback, and it was against us. It’s not like the Giants found a magic lamp in their locker room at halftime. It was the same two teams playing. Our team just let them back in it.
No worries, the Eagles took out their frustration on the 49ers, Packers, and Cowboys in succession. Sure we blew a big lead against the Giants, but now we were 4-1 and sitting pretty.
This was not the case after the Saints marched in and snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat. By obtaining possession with the Eagles up by one the Saints simply melted the clock and kicked a game winning field goal as time expired against a helpless Eagles team that wasted all of their time-outs earlier in the game and made a few stupid mistakes on special teams. Again the Eagles played well enough to win, but failed to seal it. I never thought I’d speak these words, “Boy, we sure missed Reno Mahe t oday!”
Deja-vu against Tampa Bay as yet another opposing kicker sent hope of an Eagle victory through the uprights. If the Saints game was comparable to a blooper reel, the Bucs game was a pre-packaged Sports Center highlight featuring a seemingly season-altering touchdown by Brian Westbrook. However, as the clock wound down, it was Tampa Bay kicker Matt Bryant who decided now was the perfect time to kick the second longest field goal in NFL history. Aw shucks.
End result, 4-3, and by the time you read this we’ll either be 5-3 or 4-4. Both of those numbers make me sick. Pick up a new copy of Webster’s Dictionary and look up the definition of “underachiever,” you’ll find that it means “a student who performs less well in school than would be expected on the basis of abilities indicated by intelligence and aptitude tests, etc.” or “a person or thing that performs below expectations.” How about we add a definition, “the 2006 Philadelphia Eagles.