In the dullest of time, they keep your interest

During one of those momentum-sapping TV timeouts - not that there was any momentum to sap and even tree sap or Warren Sapp could run faster - I decided to check in with Naatamo. It's one of the northernmost villages in Finnish Lapland and the first snow fell there nearly 2 weeks ago. On a day when the Linc kickoff temperature was 73 degrees, the Lads of Autumn lost me to the point where I was more concerned with the onset of winter in a Lap hamlet with a 24/7 Webcam than the health and well-being of Andy Reid's run defense.

I guess I am saying the only thing duller than the touchdownless state that existed until Terrell Owens won the game and a best live performance Emmy with 9 minutes, 12 seconds left would have been President Bush and John Kerry mud wrestling. Or mudslinging.

Midway through the break, I clicked on the Finnish Roadways Web site, put my mouse on the map of Lapland and clicked on Naatamo. It was 9:10 p.m. there, 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. There were two autos parked at the convenience store/gas station beside the two-lane road. The temperature was just under 32 degrees. Fresh snow was on the ground - about 10 inches worth, I figure. I visit the site often when the winter blues set in. I think Naatamo is probably the loneliest place in the world, even lonelier than the Linc end zones were during a Week 8 hairpull that left the Eagles 7-0 after the 15-10 victory over Baltimore. And . . . The NFL's only unbeaten team.

Eagles president Joe Banner was standing in the middle of the Birds' locker room talking to a scribe about how he fully expected the World Series to go to a nerve-racking Game 7 if Curt Schilling had been unable to pitch a Game 6.

What would he tell somebody who was here from Lapland and had never seen an NFL game before about the game his team had just won in such unlovely fashion?

"I'd tell him it was great," Banner said. "I'd tell him it was an important victory over a quality team that gave us the best start in team history. "

For all I know, the passengers in the two autos parked at that frozen Naatamo oasis might have been sipping their Aquavit and watching the NFL Game of the Week on the European Sky Network satellite service.

As long as the Eagles are carrying that doughnut after their increasing victory total, the hook will be in us too deep to dislodge.

That is the power and the glory of the NFL. You're either on the bus or off the bus and this year the caravan heading toward the Super Bowl of our dreams stretches beyond the horizon. Beyond Naatamo even, which to me represents the edge of the Earth.

At 7-0, there is no such thing as a great escape or a lousy football game the Birds were lucky to win. And, actually, that was not the case yesterday. The Eagles were the best team on the field. They even out-hit a Ray Lewis-inspired Ravens defense renowned for pounding teams into fourth-quarter submission.

"What that game told me is there are some really even teams in the NFC," said former Eagles punter Sean Landeta, taking a busman's holiday at the Linc during the Rams bye week. "One big play can turn a game around. And when the Ravens hit the long pass play at the end, then scored the touchdown, they were a possession away from winning it with time on the clock to get the ball back. "

That's 2 straight weeks where sharp teeth were a required accessory for nailbiting. And with three more wind-raked field goals on his log, deadly accurate David Akers is emerging as a factor in the 7-0 start just as vital as Donovan McNabb and Terrell the Terpsichore.

On the other hand, if you're a fan of snot-knocking hits - and who isn't? - the Eagles and Ravens supplied a highlight reel of them. The most spontaneous OOOOOH!! came when coverage teams wrecking ball Ike Reese sent punt returner Deion Sanders airborne and spinning wildly like a helicopter with a busted tail rotor after the comebacking cover corner returned a 51-yard Dirk Johnson punt 9 yards with 1:51 left in the first half.

"I got him like that when he was with the Redskins, too," Ike grinned after another superb game of special-teams pillage. "That time he gave up the football. Both times he was making a cut. "

They were unkindest cuts of all . . .

The Eagles' next game will attract the usual buildup, which means fever pitch by midweek building to hysteria. Election? What election?

In this case, now that the Eagles are the NFL's last unbeaten team standing, one nickname perfectly conveys the urgency that will be at hand: You don't need to say more than:

Steelers . . .

If the Eagles win that one, you might be able to party until hell - or Naatamo - freeze over.