Lincoln Financial Field. Photo Credits – Steve Eng via flickr.com
Over these past few months, two things have been on my radar of excitement in the early weeks of September: the new Ozzy album (see Arts and Entertainment for an article on that) and Philadelphia Eagles football making its return!
Oh yeah — and school.
This year, the Birds come into the season with an assortment of new bells and whistles on the roster leaving fans, such as myself, giddy with the thought of just how far this team could go this season. Yet, as a pessimistic Eagles fan version of Uncle Ben from “Spiderman” would say: “With great expectations comes great disappointment.”
We can’t help it. We can’t help looking at that shiny new roster on paper and get a feeling in our hearts that we hadn’t felt since the Birds defeated the Falcons in the 2017 postseason: this team is going places. But as any longtime fan would tell you, this team has a magical way of shattering expectations — good or bad.
Look at 2017 for example. The Eagles came into the season coming off a shaky but encouraging rookie year for second overall pick Carson Wentz (I promised I wouldn’t cry) and a few retooling moves that left the roster looking solid, but not necessarily playoff-bound. There were those, such as myself, who were optimistic when the team signed Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith and Leggarette Blount to bolster the offense around the second year signal caller. But even I, who had the team going 14–2, did not expect them to go far in the playoffs. A second-year head coach, second-year starting quarterback and an overall inexperienced roster making a dent in the playoffs? No way!
Then, an undrafted kicker named Jake Elliott smashed a 61-yard field goal and the ensuing explosion of the Eagles 2017 success was incomparable to anything in franchise history. We all know the story, all the ups-and-downs from when Carson Wentz would dance around a defense to throw a 50-yard bomb to the final moment when Tom Brady’s last attempt at a comeback fell on the turf of U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota.
It was truly beautiful. Perhaps no other Eagles team will be as special as that 2017 roster under Doug Pederson. They defied the odds and overcame every obstacle to win it all. You couldn’t write a better story than that!
And then there’s the dream team.
The infamous 2011 roster similarly had expectations when the season began, but theirs was closer to the ones that dominate the headlines today.
After an array of flashy free agency pickups in an active offseason for the Andy Reid-led Eagles, the birds fell flat on their faces off the pedestal that backup quarterback Vince Young had placed them on in his infamous “dream team” quote.
The team collapsed under the heavy expectations and fell to a 4–8 record before being able to pick up the pieces and finish with a 8–8 final record. A far cry from a so-called dream team-type record, huh?
So, why would I tell you this horrifying tale alongside an inspiring nostalgia trip? Because the Birds are in a situation eerily similar to that of the 2011 roster, I would advise a word of caution before we start preparing Broad Street for a parade in February.
This is a young team which, while talented, is going to take a bit of time to get its footing set right. Now, they defeated Detroit in what coulda, shoulda, woulda been a blowout if defensive coordinator Johnathon Gannon called a better game. And who knows how they’ll handle a newly dynamic Minnesota offense this Monday night?
I love the offseason acquisitions, and I truly think this roster is much better this year than it was last year and is better prepared for the next five years than many other teams, but I am going to continue to be cautiously optimistic about where I think they can go in the short term. Until we see more consistent play from the defense and quarterback Jalen Hurts, there just is no certainty they’ll be able to keep up to par with powerhouse offenses that will be much better than the Lions.
Besides, when you have tempered expectations and they are exceeded, doesn’t it feel more exhilarating anyway?
Just ask yourself five years ago.
Joseph Gill is a fourth-year English major with a minor in Journalism. JG923276@wcupa.edu