It Always Ends The Same

So here we are again....  Year after year after year go by the same way and we are back at it again.  The Swami predicts Eagles vs. Chargers in the Super Bowl.  There is one constant we seem to get from Chris Berman and that is that the Eagles will be in the Super Bowl.  But how realistic is that?  Is that really possible?  And is it possible for them to win?  I am an avid Eagles fan...I bleed the Eagles green...almost too much.  My wife even...HATES FOOTBALL SEASON and HATES THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES.  She knows how I am about this.  Having been an Eagles fan from ages ago I learned what is means to be one.  It means that a lot of TV remotes are broken by being thrown against the wall.    

Being an Eagles fan is about endurance.  How much can you handle?  The Eagles season has many ways in which it can proceed but it always ends the same.  Let's review some things a bit...

Prior to 1999, a typical Eagles season involved the SUPER HIGH hopes of winning the division but usually involved changing to the low expectations that at least once you will take down the Giants or the Cowboys...with a solid defensive stand.  This was a must.  And this was something to take pride in.  It etches in your mind permanently and not like an etch and sketch.  

But then things changed.  We drafted Donovan McNabb.  And guess what?  Everyone hated him.  We looked that aside but noticed that our luck somewhat changed.  In the first year we go through like any other team.  But then we start thinking about things that Eagles fans never even dreamt of...winning playoff games!  Right off the bat we beat Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs in his first full year.  And the year after that NFC Title Game vs. the Rams where we as underdogs lead at the half.  And as the confetti came down after that NFC Title game, Donovan McNabb stood under that dreaming that perhaps my team can achieve this some day.

And that was what triggered it.  The man we drafted took us there and in the next season the Eagles sat as home favorites vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game.  This isn't so bad.  Playing a team that in the prior few games we hadn't given up even a touchdown to.  And took the 7-0 lead to start the game which was extra nice.  So what if we had the bad luck of seeing our now beloved QB go down with a ankle injury in the regular season.  He was at least back in the post season, wasn't he?  But guess what?  Andy Reid decided that with a solid defense we didn't need to take much chances on offense so let's just be a bit conservative.  And we know how that ended.  It hurt.  Losing to a team we beat in the regular season.  It hurt a lot.  But history repeats itself.

So then next season came and we started 0-2 and wanted to kill our leader.  Donovan faces some issues with the Rush...not pass rush as he can always handle that but with Rush itself.  He gets over that and finally we think we are at the stage where its no longer a fluke.  With this leader we are capable of winning something meaningful.  But from this point forward it is too late.  Luck strikes us down as we get near the end.  Westbrook tears his triceps and we also lose Carlos Emmons for the playoffs.  We lose who?  Oh, for the regular NFL fan you don't remember but if you are an Eagles fan, you know who Carlos Emmons was.  And then when McNabb cracks his ribs and we don't even get 15 yards for it we get very bitter...it hurts... but we have to accept it as we lose our second NFC Championship game to a team we beat easily in the regular season with Koy Detmer at the helm!

So then you think...that this must be it.  We must put the nail in the coffin and now head south.  However, there is more left.  The next season the Eagles finally do it.  Starting the season with a few wins, the Eagles finally go on and win that NFC Championship game.  And the stage is set.  However, we still get the challenge.  T.O....the man who can put us over the top...breaks his ankle.  With hindsight most would say...what's the big deal since he was back for The Game?  But I can only think about what would have been if this didn't happen?  We should have won that Super Bowl...we just should have.  But it wasn't meant to be.

Then a worthless T.O. year goes by and after that another McNabb injury with Garcia leading the helm and then we get to another one this past year.  We play another team in the NFC Championship Game that we beat in the regular season...the Cardinals...and beat very badly at that.  If we only did that again then we would have played the Steelers which was another team we beat badly in the regular season.  But this is to no avail.  For some reason we just can't start the BIG games right.  Trailing 24-6 at the half, every Eagles fan knew how it would end.  Obviously we would lead at some point and then lose.  

I feel it like it is written in stone.  So I end my digression.  We start a new year.  Is this different?  I don't know so let's look at the facts:

There is usually some elation...and that came from the draft.  We had an awesome one.  We got another Brian Westbrook in LeSean McCoy and we got another Desean Jackson in Jeremy Maclin.  This looks good.  Then we pick up an awesome TE in Ingram who didn't play in the last college season but only because he wanted to be our steal in the draft.  :)  We strenthen up our Oline and the pieces are falling in place.

However, this year the problems start early.  We lose Brian Dawkins...that can't be!  Oh yes it can.  Then we lose Jim Johnson...our most beloved person on the coaching staff.  Our hearts are shattered.   This man deserves more than what I have written here.  I could write many many articles about what he did for us.  And then we lose Stewart Bradley...the man in the middle.  And the TE Ingram...and then it is announced that Sean Andrews has issues and Brian Westbrook has issues and we start to wonder... are we at game 13 or 14 already which is when the catastrophes begin?  No...the season hasn't even begun.  

So where are the Eagles headed.  I can tell you right now because the pattern is the same.  We will start very badly and by the time 10 games are played we might be near 5-5.  Then we hit a spurt and somehow finish 10-6 and capture a wild card berth.  The first round is easy so the second is a bit challenging but once again not that hard as we as underdogs beat the Giants again.  And then we hit the NFC Championship game against and unexpected opponent that we beat easily in the regular season...hmmm...who could that be this year?  I know...the Chicago Bears.  We'll win on Nov 22nd but unfortunately will lose in the playoffs.  How do I know this?  That is easy...I am a Philadelphia Eagles fan.  And I know that it always ends the same.  So close...yet so far.  In classy fashion for McNabb...a receiver will drop the ball on 4th down and Donovan McNabb will take the blame.  But this will be different in one special way.  The season after this, the Eagles will boot McNabb out and forever ruin their chances of ever even coming close to winning again.  And I will become a fan of the next team Donovan McNabb plays for.  The End.