The Time Is Yours Andy

Andy Reid has led the Philadelphia Eagles to five NFC Championship games during his 10 years in the City of Brotherly Love. Four of those ended in disaster with plenty of excuses handed out.

To a man, Reid will say it was his fault the Eagles lost four out of five, but the fans have given him a pass at times saying the Eagles did not have receivers, McNabb chocked, or the defense came up small.

All of those excuses went out the window when team president Joe Banner said, "I feel this year we have the best roster in the league. That's assuming everyone is healthy and standing at the end. You can only make a statement like that on the first day of training camp. After that, anything can happen."

We can assume the Eagles will suffer some injuries as will the other 31 teams in the NFL. If everyone goes through the same ups and downs, the Eagles should be in position to play in a mind-boggling sixth NFC Championship in 11 years under Reid.

Step back and think about that for a second. The Eagles have been in existence since 1933. Prior to Reid's arrival, they have only appeared in five conference championships.

None of that will matter though if Reid does not figure out a way to finally get this team over the hump. And with the quote from Banner it appears the Eagles front office expects the Birds to be playing February 7, 2010 in Miami.

So what can Eagles fans make of this quote? Do you buy into the fact that the Eagles offense can play well without Westbrook, a new offensive line that hasn't gelled, and two receivers in Jeremy Macklin and DeSean Jackson who have a combined one year of experience?

What about the defense without Jim Johnson. Even if the roster is solid, can they still play well without Jim Johnson as the defensive coordinator?

And should Eagles fans take stock in something that comes out of the front office? After all, the fans were told that the Eagles were the "gold standard of the NFL," by owner Jeffrey Lurie.

This could be a ploy by the Eagles front office to put some heat on Reid or possibly Donovan McNabb, who asked for more weapons on offense.

It's almost as if the front office is saying, "We got the two of you the pieces to win, now go out and do it."

Hopefully that's not what the front office is trying to say or do because as Eagles fans have seen over the years, added pressure to Reid and McNabb is not always the best thing.

It just doesn't make any sense for someone in the front office to say something like this. It puts Reid in a no-win situation.

If Reid finally wins the franchise its first Super Bowl, the critics will say, "Well he did it with the best roster in the NFL, so he should have done it."

And if he falls short again the critics will say, "It's time for Reid to go. The guy can't even win with the best roster in football."

Banner is a smart man and he made the statement publicly for a reason. Often times fans and the media can read into things too much, but this is not one of those situations. Banner is not one to speak for the sake of speaking, that's not his style.

Eagles fans can only speculate about the intent of his words and hope Reid finds a way to get his hands on the elusive Vince Lombardi trophy.