Eagles Fans: Keep Watching

November 23^rd will be a date to remember.

This was the date that the Philadelphia Eagles officially changed from a potential Super Bowl team to the laughingstock of the NFL. That's right. The laughingstock of the NFL.

We are more disappointing than the 0-11 Detroit Lions, who will have the number one  pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. We are more disappointing than the 1-10 Kansas City Chiefs, who just gave up 54 points to a Buffalo team that won't make the playoffs.

We are as disappointing as any Eagles team I have ever seen in my entire life.

It's one thing to begin a season expecting and knowing that your team will be terrible. It's another thing to have your heart completely ripped out within an eight-day period.

As Michoel Botwinick stated in his recent article, this team might be the most underachieving team in NFL history. I still believe that we're one of the top teams in the NFL. I think statistics would back me up. We just don't know how to win.

We are the complete opposite of the Philadelphia Phillies, the 2008 world champions, and a team that played with as much heart as I've ever seen. The Eagles play with zero heart. And it shows.

I'm not even going to get into today's game. This was too painful to rehash. I knew it was over the second I saw Kolb trot out to start the third quarter. The psychological impact of Donovan McNabb, a five-time Pro Bowl quarterback, standing alone on the sidelines, uninjured, was too much in itself to overcome.

I didn't like anything I saw today. The 107-yard interception return for a touchdown. The blocked punt out the back of the end zone—I wonder if McNabb understood what happened there.

The fantastic play of our defense that will go completely overlooked. The fake challenge thrown by Andy Reid in the second quarter was a classic. Watching Mike McMahon, excuse me, Kevin Kolb, run around like a chicken with its head cut off is something that I will probably have to get used to for the next few years.

I hated the attitude of the Baltimore Ravens, who treated this like a playoff game. I was annoyed when Mark Clayton somersaulted into the end zone and wasn't called for an excessive celebration penalty.

And I have never seen a Gatorade bath given to a head coach after a regular season win. I believe I have the right to be annoyed by this, but it won't even matter tomorrow.

Our season is over. I hate to say this when five consecutive wins will almost guarantee a playoff spot, but we need to face reality. It happened in 2006, but it's not happening this year. Never in one week have I had my opinion of a team change as much as it did for the Eagles since they tied the Bengals. I thought that would be a wakeup call. Try reality check.

These last five weeks of the season are where the Eagles find out who their true fans are. It's one thing to watch a potential playoff team with a winning record. It's another thing to watch your team, knowing that you have absolutely no chance of making the playoffs.

I encourage you. Keep watching this team. I hate fair-weather fans. I hate them almost as much as Dallas fans. I hate them so much I can't even stand it.

We're Philadelphia fans and we have a reputation for criticizing our teams too much. That's all I'm going to do this week. There won't be a positive word out of my mouth about this team for a long, long time.

Watch this team with a paper bag over your head, if you must. But don't turn off the TV. Don't stop watching. A true fan wouldn't.