DANGEROUS DECLARATIONS
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
DANGEROUS DECLARATIONS
Bob Brookover
It's over.
The Eagles' chances of making the playoffs.
Donovan McNabb's career in Philadelphia.
Andy Reid's ability to call plays, win games, etc.
It's all over.
That's what you're going to hear this week in quadrophonic stereo.
All the people who know everything are going to tell you it's over. Time for a new coach, time for a new quarterback, time to move on.
And they might all be right. Any and all reason for hope seemingly vanished Sunday in Cincinnati.
The Bengals played exactly the way you'd expect a 1-8 team to play and the Eagles played exactly like the Bengals.
Why should anyone believe in a football team, a coach or a quarterback that couldn't beat a team that did everything it could to lose?
Before you pull the plug, however, there is one thing to remember: Sometimes weird stuff happens in professional sports.
In their 11th game a year ago, the New York Giants lost 41-17 at home to the 4-6 Minnesota Vikings, falling to 7-4. Quarterback Eli Manning threw three interceptions that day and they were all returned for touchdowns. It's hard to imagine the Giants sitting up at the Meadowlands the following Monday plotting the design of their Super Bowl rings.
There are more stories like that one from this decade, too.
Pittsburgh lost its last two games in November and its first in December to fall to 7-5 in 2005. Had they lost again, they wouldn't have made the playoffs. They didn't lose again.
The 2000 Baltimore Ravens went five straight October games without scoring a touchdown and were 5-4 after nine games and they, too, won a Super Bowl.
When the Phillies lost two out of three in Florida in mid-September and slipped two games behind the Mets and four behind Milwaukee in the wildcard race, were more people plotting a parade down Broad Street or manager Charlie Manuel's firing?
After watching the Eagles in Cincinnati, there's no reason to believe they can duplicate those unlikely runs above. No reason at all.
But it is a dangerous business to declare something is over before it's actually over.
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It's not over. This is typical Philly fans. He is exactly right. You all jumped off the bandwagon for the Phils, and then got back on.— scars73- You make a great case on paper concerning it not being over, however you fail to understand one big fat variable in your equation. Those teams don't have Andy Reid making game day decisions for them, so they were able to overcome those odds. However we in Philly are not that lucky. So Bob, maybe your trying to put a spin on this thing to work in favor of the Eagles, or maybe you just love them so much you somehow think that can happen. Remember we are dealing with Andy Reid, the guy who is still forcing that square peg in to round hole. And like a remedal child in grade school he can't understand why it doesn't fit. It's over, do you honestly think that those situations are going to happen to team with a coach they tries 3 straight running plays and doesn't get the a TD in Chicago, a coach that tries twice to run for a 1st down agaisnt the Giants and fails,a coach who cuts his only real fullback leaving the fullback duties to a backup lineman , who last year has what amounts to a try out for punt returners but only has one person trying out, then cuts that one person leaving the team to start the regular season without a proven punt returner thus costing him a win on opening day. And that's just the beginning, so using that as my precedence I would say, IT"S OVER BOB— MoBayYankee
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- I'd normally be the first to say dont panic. But to compare this team to the Giants is ridiculous. The Giants had a new defense led by a new coordinator. It had a young QB that hadnt come into its own. The Eagles have ther same old defense that hasnt been truly dominating every week since what? 2004? The offense is now old in key positions, still lacking a #1 WR, and McNabb still hasnt shown he can win a game by himself in years! So Bob, please tell me what has changed on this team? Tell me what could change on this team to lead you to believe they can win 5 in a row against all winning teams? What has changed that makes you think they can win 3 games against our division with two of them on the road? The best we can hope for now is 8-7-1. Pathetic. Ed— stfsergeanted
- Your right weird things DO happen It is very strange that a guy making 100 million dollars at his job does not know the rules - THAT is weird— owlsrule
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- Being the number one Eagles fan what I have to say is more important then everybody else's opinion. I don't think this team can win it all and we may need a new quarterback. McNabb's skills use to place him up in the top 5 of league quarterbacks, ever since the super bowl his skills have been eroding (the surgery didn't help). I and probably everybody else expect him to go out with an injury if the Eagles look like they are going to lose big, also many think he is more worried about his stats sometimes then winning. If the Eagles Number One fan (me) is starting to think this then it's time (after this season ends) to start looking towards rebuilding this team and getting quality players in trade for McNabb while he's still worth anything.— neddyflanders
- Dear Mr Brookover...wake up and smell the catbox.Thanks.— red rock
- Yes...strange things happen...like ties to the freakin Bungles. Very sad. And strange things like punting the ball away and playing for a tie (at best). Andy is the worst game-day coach ever. Can't the birds get someone else to make the calls on game day?
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- It's over unless management sits down to have a nice long talk about what changes NEED to be made for this team and not who is who's favorite. Until they face their issues, ITS OVER!— mumforlife
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- Someone go and untie Bob now!!!!! Banner and his henchman Eskin must have broken into Bob's studio apartment and typed this .— davekrieg
- Mathematically, maybe. But does what you saw yesterday even make you want to root for such a thing to happen? Didn't for me. Go Flyers!— toph314
