Philadelphia Eagles: Would a Week 10 Eagles Win and Giants Loss Restore Hope?

A Philadelphia Eagles win, coupled with a New York Giants loss, would bring the Eagles back to within two games of the NFC East lead.  That would be followed by a Week 11 showdown with the Giants that could potentially bring the Eagles to within only one game of the lead.

Would that be enough to start renewing playoff hope for Eagles fans?

The Eagles have an anti-climatic game this week against the Arizona Cardinals.  It was supposed to be the return of quarterback Kevin Kolb, and these two teams were anticipated to be playoff contenders.

Instead, Kolb has been underwhelming in Arizona this season, and the Eagles have been playing erratic and mistake-filled football.  Kolb will also not be playing due to an injury, which takes away even more meaning from this game.

To boot, both teams are just a combined 5-11 on the year, so this isn't exactly the clash of the titans here. 

Even with all the Eagles' ills this year, I still fully expect them to beat this Arizona team.  As a matter of fact, anything less than a thorough beating will be disappointing.

I think most Eagles fans feel the same way.  Most people expect a victory this week, but it won't be anything to get excited about.  It is, after all, merely a weak Arizona Cardinals team they would be defeating.  How excited can anyone get by beating a lesser opponent? 

On face value, that answer would be: not much. 

However, what if the division-leading Giants happen to lose as well?  Of course, this was supposed to have been what happened last week, but as it turned out, the opposite came true.

Last weekend was seriously deflating in terms of fan excitement for the Eagles this year.  But what happens if the Eagles start to piece together a few wins that are coupled with Giants' losses?

The New York Giants play the feisty, if not lucky, San Francisco 49ers this week.  Their head coach, Jim Harbaugh, has that team highly motivated and playing well. I must say, though, that the 49ers are overachieving at this point, and I'm still not a real believer in them.  With that said, it's not out of the question that they can manage to beat the Giants, especially playing at home.

If this happened, it would set up a 4-5 Eagles team facing a 6-3 Giants team in Week 11.  The Eagles would then have a chance to pull to within one game of a Giants team that would have to face the Saints, Packers and Cowboys in the following three weeks.

So, would this at least restore a slight glimmer of hope?  Would the true and forever optimistic Eagles fans shine through again? Or has this season gone so badly that you've given up all hope and it would take much more than one win and one Giants loss to even think about getting excited again?

Technically, the Eagles are not eliminated from playoff contention yet.  Yes, it's true that the odds are stacked against them—believe me, I know.  However, isn't there at least a little part of you that still holds out hope?  And will a win over Arizona (plus a loss by the Giants) get your juices going again, even if only slightly?

For me, I can't help but think it will.  The big caveat to all this is whether or not the Giants lose.  If they don't, an Eagles victory over the hapless Cardinals won't do much for me in terms of playoff optimism.

What about you?  What will it take for you to regain some hope for the Eagles this year?