What do we make of the Eagles?

There wasn't too much buzz around the Eagles back in the spring. Everyone talked about the Giants (didn't they do something important last February?) and the Cowboys (didn't they do something important...back in the 90s?).

The Eagles went off to Lehigh. Donovan McNabb looked good. The new players fit in. There was a buzz that started to build around the team. Some people picked the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl. Others had us winning the division. Things seemed pretty good.

Then came the season opener, The Silence of the Rams. The Eagles won 38-3 (the game wasn't even that close) and the hype machine kicked in. Suddenly the Eagles were one of the top couple of teams in the entire league.

Never a group to keep things simple, the Eagles went off to Dallas and played great for part of the game, but still found a way to lose. The record was only 1-1, but going down in a game like that didn't hurt Philly's rep at all. They even went up in some power rankings.

The win over Pittsburgh didn't seem to have too much sway one way or the other. That was a defensive struggle...a methodical win. The Eagles had beaten a big, physical AFC team and that was a good sign.

Then came the trip to Chicago. Philadelphia didn't have a slew of key offensive players, but still had the better team. The only problem with that is that the Bears made more key plays and won the game. So much for Donovan's trip to Sweet Home Chicago...

Now the Eagles sit at 2-2. What do we make of this team? The defense looks very good, but has given up some big pass plays. The offense moves the ball, but hasn't scored enough TDs the last couple of weeks. Is this still one of the better teams in the league or have the Eagles been exposed as pretenders?

I lean toward the team being pretty good when all is said and done, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about them. I think the team is good. Andy Reid thinks the team is good. Chris Berman thinks the team is good. All that thinking will start to fade if it isn't backed up with some wins, and quality wins at that. As I love to say, the proof is in the pudding, preferably chocolate. We'll see how the team does in a key game on Sunday. Beating Washington would be a good way to show people that the Eagles can handle some adversity and bounce right back. We won't know for sure if the Eagles are a good team until we're 10-12 games into the season, but winning Sunday would sure be a step in the right direction. As my friend Shrub would say, "All we can do is hide 'n watch".

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My new PE.com article is posted:

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=16315
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