Why the New York Jets Victory Is a Dagger To Philadelphia Eagles Fans

I would rather be living in Philadelphia.

W.C. Fields meant it as a dig.

This Philly native means it as the gospel truth.

But they sure don’t make it easy, do they.

For the second time in four years, a football team from New York has done what the high-scoring, high-soaring Birds of ’04 could not.  They outfoxed He of Foxboro.  They sent Coach Belichick packing—going gently into that good, offseason night.

There, they will join the Philadelphia Eagles of 2010.  And 2009.  Oh, and 2008, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000.  Which means that in this Andy Reid-led era, the Eagles have spent nine out of 12 years in the playoffs and nine out of 12 years ending their season with a playoff loss.  In other words, it has been a period of sustained thisclose.

If this generation’s Philadelphia Eagles fails to go Super-Bowling and win, this will be their legacy. 

Thisclose.

Thisclose to getting to the Super Bowl (in four unsuccessful conference championship games).

Thisclose to winning the Big One (in one wildly unsuccessful two-minute drill at the end of Super Bowl XXXIX).

The Eagles—with an in-his-prime Donovan McNabb and a playing-out-of-his-mind Terrell Owens—could not do what the 2007 New York Football Giants did.  They could not do what the 2010 New York J-E-T-S just did. 

It would be the understatement of the modern football era to say that the New England Patriots are hardly a team to scoff at.  They have arguably the best quarterback-head coach tandem.  Not just now, but of all time.  They have three Super Bowl wins in their back pocket and one more Super Bowl appearance, for good measure.  That is dynasty-level play.

So it is no great shame that in 2004, the Philadelphia Eagles fell three points shy of vanquishing the near-unvanquishable.  Maybe they were not supposed to beat those Pats.

But the New York Giants were most definitely not “supposed” to beat the 2007 Patriots.  Not the team that went 16-0.  Not the team that had Tom Brady and his shiny, new toy Randy Moss.  But beat them they did.

And the New York Jets were not “supposed” to beat the 2010 Patriots.  Not the team that quietly went 14-2.  Not the team that Brady and company thrashed in a 45-3 rout, just weeks earlier.  But beat them they did.

And the Eagles did not.

This is not a why-not-us appeal to the sports gods.  That particular 25-year run ended in 2008.  Thank you dearly, Fightin’ Phils.

This is not a Philadelphia-New York inferiority complex.  Lest our friends up I-95 forget, this was the year Cliff Lee wanted back in Philadelphia.  So much so that he left Yankee pinstripes and Yankee pesos on the table.

This is not even (believe it or not) a knock against Andy Reid.  The numbers do not lie.  He is the winningest coach in Philadelphia Eagles history.  He is a masterful preparer.  Michael Vick was an outstanding, outlandish athlete for the Atlanta Falcons.  However, it was in Philadelphia—and under Reid’s tutelage—that he blossomed into an outstanding, outlandish quarterback. 

Among active coaches with at least 100 games on their resume, Reid’s .608 winning percentage is second in the league.  Second to whom, you might ask?

He of Foxboro.

And so it comes, full circle.  Thisclose.

For the past 12 years, fans of the Philadelphia Eagles have seen some extraordinary football.  Fourth and 26.  McNabb’s 14.1 second mad-scramble in Dallas.  The pickle juice game.  The Miracle at the Meadowlands No. 2, as crowned by one Mike Quick.

And they have seen their beloved Iggles come thisclose.  It is their legacy to bear.  Or one early February day, bury.

Perhaps the truest testament to the nit and grit of Eagles fans is their unyielding loyalty.  They have suffered through eras of ineptitude, on the field and in the front office.  They have gutted through snow storms and fog and the Vet.  And now, they have ached through a decade-plus of near misses.

To play on Mr. Fields’ words, I would (still) rather be a fan in Philadelphia.  For Eagles Nation that will be—and should be—always true.  But from one Eagles Nation member to another, here is one final desperate hope.

Next year, let us be more than just thisclose.