Exciting Eagles must avoid pitfalls

THE MEDIA LOVE TO poke fun at Andy Reid, especially for his tendency to answer tough questions with pure noncommittal, totally evasive bull dung. But Andy got it dead-on when he addressed the "dream team" nonsense, saying that it's way too early to evaluate any team and that we'd just have to wait until the team "strapped it on" and started playing.

Even if you wanted to evaluate the team on paper alone, calling the 2011 Birds a "dream team" seems like a bit of a stretch. No dream team would have, at best, a questionable offensive line, a dreadfully inexperienced linebacking corps, a banged-up defensive line, and two rookies at kicker and punter. With all of these question marks, this team's "dream" season could quickly turn into a nightmare.

Having said that, the 2011 Birds still have Ed Rendell, the football fan, more excited about this upcoming season than any in my lifetime. Why? For two reasons. First, these Eagles are going to be the most exciting team to watch that we have ever had, win or lose. Second, we are the best and most talented team in the NFC, if not the NFL, and we will only fall short of a visit to Indianapolis if we beat ourselves.

The evolution of what has now become the most exciting team in the league began in last year's opener against Green Bay. Kevin Kolb went down early in the game and we got to take our first look at Michael Vick as an every-down QB. We didn't know what to expect from Vick - the year before he had made sporadic appearances on the field and looked far from being back to his prejail form. But Vick caught us all by surprise and put on a spectacular show from the moment he took his first snap. I remember midway through the fourth quarter turning to my friend Cliff Haines and saying, "I almost don't care how much we win, this guy is so exciting to watch it's incredible." Well, after watching a full season of what became the second coming of the Michael Vick experience, one thing is clear: The Eagles have the most exciting collection of players in the league, and their speed and talent will have us on the edge of our seats all season.

In addition to being a must-watch squad, this Eagles team is flat out the best in the NFC. A "dream" team perhaps not, but clearly better than any of our rivals. In the NFC East, while the Birds were busy adding a boatload of new talent, the Giants and Cowboys did virtually nothing to improve. The Giants suffered a real blow this weekend when first-round pick Prince Amukamara suffered a foot injury that likely will limit his effectiveness throughout the season. With the return of Tony Romo, the Cowboys figure to be better than last year's 6-10 team, but not that much better. The Redskins have Rex Grossman at the helm - enough said. In the rest of the NFC, only the reigning champion Packers come close in terms of talent. But remember that in our playoff game against the Pack last season, after a poor performance throughout the game, Vick's pass to Riley Cooper was just a few inches short of being the game-winning touchdown. Although the Packers will get Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley back this year, with our bevy of free-agent additions and with Vick having a full training camp as a starter, we have improved more than the Packers and should be considered the favorite to represent the NFC in Indianapolis for the 2012 Super Bowl. (And for you truly crazed Eagles fans, the best steak house in Indy is St. Elmo.)

So the only thing that can stop the Eagles this year is, well, the Eagles themselves. Here are just a few of the pitfalls that might crush our dreams (pun intended):

First, of course, is the all too familiar injury bug. Injuries can derail any NFL team. The Cowboys collapsed when Romo went down, the Patriots couldn't go all the way without Tom Brady, and the Ravens couldn't get to the Super Bowl without a healthy Ed Reed. The Eagles' front office has done as good a job as any in the league in putting together a top-notch insurance policy for the 2011 season. Although it would be devastating to lose Vick, Vince Young has the skill set to keep our offense performing at a high level. If LeSean McCoy goes down, Ronnie Brown has the experience and talent to step in as a very solid replacement. If Brent Celek were to get hurt, Donald Lee provides a veteran presence who should be able to fill the void nicely. With three great cornerbacks, we have great depth in the secondary, and although it is still unclear how many studs we will have on the frontlines, we appear to have added considerable depth on both sides of the ball.

The only injuries that could be potentially crippling would be season-enders to either Vick or DeSean Jackson. If either were to be knocked out for the season, it would totally change the offense. It's no secret that what makes Vick so dangerous also subjects him to a high risk of serious injury. And with two concussions to date, the Eagles would be smart to keep D-Jax outside the hashmarks for most of the season. Losing DeSean would cause us to lose a great deal of the explosiveness that makes us so feared. It might well be a fatal blow to our hopes. (I don't mean to downgrade the rest of our receiving corps, which is very good, but everything would change if we lost DeSean.)

The second pitfall would be an inability on the part of the offensive line to keep Vick's jersey clean. Hopefully, we have added three important pieces to the puzzle with the return of Jamaal Jackson, the signing of Ryan Harris and drafting Danny Watkins. This gives us added depth and flexibility to move the linemen around, if necessary. But what if Jackson isn't totally back to form and Harris and Watkins aren't all they're cracked up to be? I shudder to think.

The third pitfall is a recurring issue - if our new defensive alignment can't stop the run, we're cooked. With Moise Fokou, Casey Matthews and Jamar Chaney at linebacker, we are awfully inexperienced at that crucial position (yes Andy, linebackers do matter). The loss of Mike Patterson (if the docs say he's out) and Victor Abiamiri, combined with the uncertainty regarding Brandon Graham's return, hurts what could have been tremendous defensive-line depth. We can only hope that Jason Babin's 2010 performance wasn't a mirage and that Cullen Jenkins will be the run-stopper we have been in desperate need of for years.

The fourth pitfall is possibly one that should give Eagles fans the most anxiety - our special teams are a huge question mark. Alex Henery and Chas Henry could turn out to be great, but what if they can't handle the pressure of the NFL? (Why does the fact that they have nearly identical last names alone make me anxious?) Their college credentials are unquestionably great. Henery was a first-team All-America kicker and second-team All-Big 12 at Nebraska in 2010. Chas Henry, another first-team All-America, averaged 45.1 yards per punt for Florida in 2010, with a longest punt of 75 yards. Stats are great, but these games will be played on Sundays and when everything is on the line some of the very best college kickers bomb in the NFL.

The last two pitfalls are turnovers and red-zone efficiency. Last year our turnover ratio was plus-9 and with our new additions on defense we should improve in this all-important category. As far as our red-zone performance goes, in years past, "We could have done a better job there." This year I believe that we must and we will improve inside the 20 with Ronnie Brown providing much-needed short yardage help and as a result of the potential emergence of Cooper as a reliable red-zone target.

I know that's a lot of ifs. But every team has its fair share, and with Vick, DeSean and most of the sought-after free agents donning Eagles green in 2011, don't let the ifs temper your enthusiasm . . . too much. What do I think will happen? Let's just say I'll see you at St. Elmo.