In Memoriam: The Philadelphia Eagles' 2008 Season

This week concluded the Philadelphia Eagles amazing and improbable run. It feels incomplete given the fact they came up short again, but fans were certainly treated to an emotional ride that won’t soon be forgotten. As fans and critics continue to dissect the season and the loss, there are a few final thoughts I would like to dispel before I turn the page on another season.

This game hurt more than 2002 – False

The game itself hurt no question about it. The wounds haven’t healed yet and it’s at the forefront of a fans' mind, but the worst of all the recent championship game losses? More than the 2002 NFC Championship game against Tampa Bay, or the 2003 game against Carolina? I don’t know that I fully support that notion.

In the 2002 and 2003 NFC Championship games, the Eagles never looked like a team that should be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl. After looking dominant for the better part of those respective seasons, the Eagles were dominated by Tampa Bay in 2002, and managed a single field goal against the Panthers in 2003.

In two games that nearly everyone expected the Eagles to win, they lost and played miserably in both. The Tampa Bay game in particular caught me (and more importantly the Eagles) completely off guard. I was stunned for the entire offseason, and still harbor ill will for one of the "good guys" in the NFL, Joe Jurevicius.

Can fans honestly say they were "shocked" in quite the same way after this game? I don’t say that lightly, I just think the most shocking aspect was the Arizona Cardinals were the team that beat them.

This season the Eagles were practically eliminated from playoff contention in November, and rallied like few teams ever have. They snuck into the playoffs with some of the most unlikely help from the Raiders, and then managed to win two road games to even reach the Championship game.  

Suddenly NFL experts are saying that home field advantage has been rendered "obsolete."  I was fortunate in that I was able to attend the game last weekend, and not only was it an advantage for Arizona, it was the difference in the game.

As confident as Eagle fans were in their team over the past month, winning three road games to get to the Superbowl was as unlikely as it was when the Giants did it last year, and as improbable as Pittsburgh doing it in 2006.

Another big reason for the intense disappointment this year is the compounding effect of NFC Championship and Superbowl losses over the past 10 seasons. The hard feelings after this game are the result of a healthy dose of the following:

• The realization that the Eagles wasted a healthy Donovan McNabb season.  After missing 15 games over the past three seasons, McNabb started every game this year. Recently viewed as a player who can’t stay healthy, he proved that he still has a lot in the tank at age 32. 
  
• The possibility that this might be the last chance for a ring with this core group of players. The Eagles success over the past 10 seasons is due in no small part to their ability to make the right decision with their veteran free agents. It’s possible that emotional leader Brian Dawkins and other fan favorites like Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas will not be Eagles next season, and very probable that all won’t be back.  
  
• The fact that superstar play-making machine Brian Westbrook has reached the crossroads for a running back (age 30), and has looked several steps slower than even last season. 
  
• And of course, the fact that the Eagles went three straight seasons without reaching this game (missing the playoffs altogether in two), after what seemed like a perennial invitation to the NFC Championship.
  

Whether it was some celestial event, or destiny that had us believing that the Eagles were going to coast to the Lombardi trophy, it wasn’t to be. Destiny doesn’t win football games, and the Cardinals proved to be the real Cinderella story this year.  

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