| Andrew Perna. 24th October, 2006 - 8:09 pm
 Heading into their week eight match-up against the Jacksonville Jaguars the Eagles have a respectable record (4-3), but it's one that could be much more impressive. It's good enough for second place in the uber-competitive NFC East, as they stand just a half-game behind the New York Giants (4-2).
Donovan McNabb is having an MVP-caliber season in Philadelphia, throwing for 2,151 yards and 16 touchdowns in just seven games. Should McNabb keep up this sort of pace through the nine remaining games on Philadelphia's schedule he'll finish the year with 4,916 yards and 37 touchdowns. That would put McNabb up with the best in the NFL, and likely earn him several votes for the league's most valuable player award.
The Eagles were counting on injury-prone Donte' Stallworth to open up their passing game, with the tumultuous Terrell Owens now in Dallas. Instead Stallworth has only played in three games, catching twelve passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns. Despite the injury woes for Philadelphia's `best' receiver, the passing game has excelled. McNabb has passed the ball to eleven different targets this season, and the Eagles have had five different leading receivers in their seven games.
So with the solid play of their offense and the emergence of receiver Reggie Brown (489 yards and five touchdowns), why is there frustration in Philly?
The answer is simple. The Eagles should be 7-0.
Their first loss came in week two against the Giants. Leading 24-7 going into the fourth quarter, it seemed as though the Eagles had a win firmly secured in their back pocket. Instead, the offense stalled as the defense opened up allowing New York to run 17 straight points off and force overtime. Ultimately the Giants got the win on a 31-yard pass from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress in the overtime session.
Loss number one in the books as the Eagles stand back and let the Giants push them around in the fourth quarter, leading to one of the greatest comebacks in football history.
After running off three straight wins against San Francisco, Green Bay, and Dallas, the Eagles went to New Orleans to tackle the resurgent Saints. After taking the lead on the opening play of the fourth quarter (a 15-yard run by Reggie Brown), the Eagles sputter once again as they allow New Orleans to tie the game late in the fourth. New Orleans then gets the win on a field goal by John Carney as time expires.
Loss number two in the books as Philadelphia once again takes the majority of the fourth quarter off, allowing New Orleans to keep their dream season rolling.
Fast forward to this past weekend as the Eagles flew to Tampa Bay to battle the struggling Buccaneers. Coming off a surprising win over the Cincinnati Bengals in week six, the Bucs looked to duplicate their success against the favored Eagles. Trailing 17-0 as the third quarter winded down, it looked as though Philadelphia was going to be embarrassed once again. However, on the back of McNabb the Eagles surged to a one-point lead after Donovan connected with Brian Westbrook for a 52-yard score with just under a minute left in regulation.
With thirty-three seconds on the clock all the defense had to do was hold the Tampa Bay offense put, and the victory was theirs. What happened? The Eagles allowed the Buccaneers to get past midfield and set kicker Matt Bryant up for a game-winning 62-yard field goal. Amazingly Bryant hit the second-longest field goal in NFL history as the Buccaneers stole a victory from the mouths of the Eagles.
Loss number three in the books as McNabb sits dumbfounded on the sidelines. And all of a sudden the Eagles, who have played well enough to be 7-0, stand at 4-3 with a tough schedule ahead of them. The Eagles still have four NFC East battles left, as well as games against Indianapolis, Carolina, and Atlanta.
Winning the NFC East won't be a cake-walk, but it's certainly something Philadelphia can accomplish. Grabbing one of the NFC's two Wild Card spots won't be an easy task either. Especially with the other three NFC divisions being rather top heavy this season.
So where does Philadelphia go from here?
They've done a lot right on both offense and defense, but mental mistakes have cost them three victories in this young season. Mistakes like the ones they made against New York, New Orleans and Tampa Bay will not earn them a playoff spot come winter, but if McNabb continues his torrid pace he'll give the Eagles a chance to win every game, no matter who the opponent.
T.O. may be out of The City of Brotherly Love, but the drama continues.
But at least this time it takes place on the field…
Andrew, an avid Eagles fan, can be reached at Andrew.Perna @RealGM.com |
