Philadelphia Eagles: NFC East Championship, MVP, and Super Bowl

Expectations—it’s almost a four letter word to Eagle fans.  We dare not have them because they tend to be vanquished, usually at the height of a euphoric moment. The team always finds a way to tear our heart out, stamp on it, spit on it, then… well, you get the idea.

We expect Medellin instead of Queens Boulevard.

Thankfully we don’t have Billy Walsh or Vinny Chase walking through that door to coach us or play quarterback for us.

We have Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb to fill those roles for us.

Also there is a much better supporting cast than Turtle and Johnny Drama.

The offseason started with a, well, it started off with me wanting to open a bottle of Jack Daniels, renounce my faith in Jesus and Joe Banner, and rename my dog. Having a dog named after a Bronco just seems a bit wrong to me.

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t come to any other name but Dawkins, so I had to accept it and move on with my life.

After some heavier drinking I ran out of money and was forced to sober up and accept the fact that there would not be No. 20 leading our defense this year.

As soon as I heard Brian Dawkins had signed with the Broncos I was ready to give up on the season—there was no way we were winning more than two games the entire season. It was over.

We got Billy Walshed!

We were off to Cannes to get bought out for a dollar.

That’s how I felt, that is how the season was going to pan out—no matter what happened we’d suck worse than the Detroit Lions.

I could not be convinced otherwise.

Slowly I got over it and the front office made some pretty solid signings and trades. The moves resulted in us getting younger, faster, and better overall.

Adding Jason Peters and Stacy Andrews to the line is going to be an amazing move. Both are excellent pass protectors and get after it in the run game.  Shawn Andrews at right tackle for a full year should also pay huge dividends—as long as he can keep his head on straight and focus.

There is no reason any of the five guys on the line this year shouldn’t be considered for a starting spot on the NFC Pro Bowl roster.

Brent Celek is going to be the starting tight end. He blocks well and is a threat in the passing game. He finished the year strong and had three touchdown catches in the playoffs.

Clint Ingram should spread the field even more when the Eagles break into the double tight end sets. He’ll be a valuable weapon as the season progresses and defenses wear down.

Finally, there is a three headed monster in the backfield again. We all know what Westbrook can do, we have high expectations for McCoy, and then there is the other newcomer—Leonard Weaver.

The Eagles have needed a versatile fullback who can get short yardage and be a factor out of the backfield. Weaver solves all these problems and isn’t a half bad blocker either. He’s as big or bigger than most NFL linebackers, a little bit faster than them, and loves to hit.

The Eagles' running game is going to be greatly improved. We can expect a lot of from this group.

Then we get to the real fun for the Eagles this season—the passing game is going to be intense.

With the addition of Jeremy Maclin to the attack, defenses are going to absolutely dread playing us. Maclin, DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, and Jason Avant are going to give defensive coordinators headaches.

Maclin, Jackson, and Curtis are going to stretch the field, with Celek, Ingram, and Avant killing teams underneath. Then you've got Westbrook, McCoy, and Weaver coming out of the backfield. What are other teams going to do?

I don’t know, but I sure would hate to be the guy trying to figure it out.

Best I could think of is press the receivers and tight end, blitz everyone else, and hope for the best.

One thing I know for certain is that finally, and I do mean finally, Donovan McNabb is going to bring home some hardware this season, and it’s going to come in the form of the NFL MVP trophy.

That is right; I am calling it right here and right now. Expect Donovan McNabb to win his first ever MVP award and it’s a long time coming for such a great player who has gone through so much.

He more than deserves the award; he has all the weapons and then some.

What should we expect from the defense this year?

It was the No. 1 overall defense in the NFC last season and could easily be the No. 1 overall defense in the NFL, and there are some damn good defenses in the NFL.

The Eagles could be the best.

Quinton Demps is expected to take over full time at the free safety spot, with Sean Jones playing a deep rover (safety/linebacker) to compensate for Demps’ inability to stop the run.

Demps has the speed to cover sideline to sideline and can deliver punishing blows a lot like his predecessor. He should be able to cause a lot of turnovers with his speed and hands. He has great vision and should improve as the year goes on.

People like to point to him getting badly burned by Larry Fitzgerald in the NFC Championship game. I’d like to point out that Fitzgerald has made a career out of burning all the great defensive backs in the league.

The corners are solid and cool.

Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown (who won’t get traded and will play his butt off this season) are going to form the outside duo, with Joselio Hanson and Ellis Hobbs coming in off the bench.

Hanson and Ellis could start for any other team in the league and be total shutdown corners on top of that. A team like Seattle, which doesn’t have solid corners (Trufant can’t tackle and is suffering from Shaun Alexander syndrome right now) would kill to get their hands on Hobbs and Hanson.

Overall, the secondary is the best or one of the top two in the league. If I’m wrong, please point it out to me. Once again, you can take your pick out of who’s going to the Pro Bowl this year from that group.

Plus we got first players in Macho Harris and Jack Ikegwuonu. You have to love youth at those spots.

I love our linebackers—they blitz, they sniff out the run, they don’t miss tackles, and again they are deep. Stewart Bradley is going to have to take over the leadership on the defense; he has the brains and vision to do it too.

Just like Dawkins, he is emotional and knows the game, he’ll be able to slide into the leadership role just fine.

Plus he doesn’t make mistakes.

Bradley manages to always have himself in excellent position and is an exceptional tackler. He’ll be flanked by Chris Gocong and Akeem Jordan.

The beauty about the Eagles' linebacking corps is that there are three guys behind the starters who can fill in just as well.

Joe “Head Bussa” Mays, Omar Gaither, and Tank Daniels.

These three guys can fill in at any position, keeping the starters fresh, and if a start by chance goes down, then you've got a very capable replacement waiting in the wings.

It also helps for competition purposes because, as we know, the Eagles are willing to give away your starting position to any guy who they feel is working harder than you are. They have done it in the past. They did it last year when Jordan took over for Gaither.

Jordan then played his butt off week in and week out, refusing to give up the starting gig. Mays is a beast and I would start him purely on principle because I absolutely love him and his hustle, and Tank Daniels is just solid.

The defensive line is solid and cool too.

I really like the depth that has been added and Victor Abiamiri is on course for a breakout season. Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunkley are finally the players we wanted in the middle and should have even bigger seasons this year.

And do we even need to talk about Trent Cole?

Didn’t think so.

What are we to expect this year?

It’s easy—Super Bowl. As long as the Eagles stay healthy and gel together in training camp, there is no reason this team can’t win at least 12 games. Okay, maybe 13 and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

That is what I’m expecting.

Oh, and a championship too.