Just When We Thought We Were Out, The Birds Pull Us Back In!
Over the past two months the Eagles season has been fairly up-and-down. One week they look dominant and are a well-balanced machine and the next week they fall flat. Motivation to watch them has been low been this season since it’s been more about seeing what they have in their young quarterback and new head coach. The most winning the organization has done this year is seeing the Miami Dolphins have a miserable season and Carson Wentz staying on the field long enough to potentially give the them a 1st round draft pick. Most of our energy lies to what they will do with potentially three 1st round picks next year.
However their victory last Sunday in Denver, the same team that went to Dallas and blew out the Cowboys the previous week, has people thinking the team maybe onto something. They’re finally committed to the running game and backs Jordan Howard and Boston Scott are delivering in Miles Sanders’ absence. Jalen Hurts is getting more reps and seems to be getting more comfortable each game. DeVonta Smith is (thankfully) living up to the hype and making catches no Eagles receiver has been capable of making since Super Bowl LII. And the usually maligned defense made some big plays including a ridiculous fumble return touchdown that pretty much sealed the win.
While it’s probably too late to catch the Cowboys for first place in the division, the Eagles are still capable of snatching up an NFC Wild Card spot since there are seven playoff spots now in a 17 game schedule. They have 7 games remaining and only two of them are against teams with a winning record. This includes the Saints who are forced to play Trevor Siemian at quarterback, and the Cowboys in Week 17 who may not have anything to play for. In between those games are the matchups between the eternally dysfunctional Washington Football Team and New York Giants along with the New York Jets, who have literally never beaten the Eagles in a regular season football game.
Perhaps after all the Eagles got something going. Hurts maybe the guy after all, Sirianni maybe a decent coach who listens to constructive criticism, and the defense will improve and not be worse than the Juan Castillo Era defense. Or it could be another false-hope type of win and the Birds lose at home again to the Saints next week. Either way, the team this year is benefitting by having low expectations and showing what they got. Now is their chance to get the city really excited in ways they haven’t been for a couple of years.