Fly Eagles Fly

by Tuesday Morning Tailback

Turn off your televisions, my fellow football fanatics, for there is no longer any suspense involved in the frenzy for playoff positioning that usually consumes us in December. The experts have spoken and the Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. There is no longer any doubt, the debate is over.

Obviously, the miraculous “Miracle at the New Meadowlands” this past sunday, where the Philadelphia Eagles rallied from 21 points down to win against the New York Giants in a showdown for first place, is a tremendous boost for the team as they head towards the end of the season. And the Eagles do deserve their rightful kudos for hanging in there, taking advantage of the right opportunities, and executing at the most crucial times. But how exactly does this diminish the Falcons, Saints, Bears, and yes, even these Giants, from being any less competitive in the NFC playoffs come January?

Further, in the zest to praise the Eagles and, most especially, Michael Vick, it seems like the “experts” overlooked the culpability of the Giants in making crucial mistakes that gave the Philly the opportunities they needed to comeback and win – which they never would have done without the G-men’s assistance. It takes a very special combination of carelessness and ineptitude to blow such a large lead with so little time. Sure, a win is a win is a win, but let’s not forget that, in this most crucial of contests, the Giants kicked the Eagles’ asses up and down the field for 7/8ths of the game.

Which brings us to the total irony of this moment. It was exactly one year ago, as the 2009 season wound down, the Eagles were also being lauded as “the class of the NFC”, as they had the inside track to the division title and the #2 seed due to their five game winning streak and the late season struggles by New Orleans and Minnesota (the two teams that actually did go to the NFC Championship).

And what happened to the Eagles? They got crushed by Dallas two weeks in a row – the first in the regular season finale, the second in a playoff game – and Eagles fans once again sat through a long, cold winter without a championship (the team has not won one since 1960 – well before the first Super Bowl, 50 solid years ago).

But surely this year is different. So turn off your TV’s, folks until you tune in for the coronation on February 6th.

Fly, Eagles, Fly!

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