• Week 1: @ Carolina – Loss; (0-1)
• Week 2: New Orleans – Win; (1-1)
• Week 3: Kansas City – Win; (2-1)
• Week 4: Bye
• Week 5: Tampa Bay – Win; (3-1)
• Week 6: @ Oakland – Win; (4-1)
• Week 7: @ Washington – Loss; (4-2)
• Week 8: New York Giants – Loss; (4-3)
• Week 9: Dallas – Win; (5-3)
• Week 10: @ San Diego – Loss; (5-4)
• Week 11: @ Chicago – Win; (6-4)
• Week 12: Washington – Win; (7-4)
• Week 13: @ Atlanta – Loss; (7-5)
• Week 14: @ New York Giants – Win; (8-5)
• Week 15: San Francisco – Win; (9-5)
• Week 16: Denver – Win; (10-5)
• Week 17: @ Dallas – Loss; (10-6)

So what are we left to hold on to as Eagles fans right now?

• Fooling ourselves with the conviction that the right-upright actually cost the Eagles a chance to be in the playoffs
• Listening to the chirping of T.O. as he reminds everyone of how he’s ” … getting the last laugh”
• Wondering whether or not Andy Reid will ever decide to adjust his offense to suit the skillset of his quarterback
• Hoping that Andy Reid finds a way to draft players who can actually contribute to the team quickly
• Being subjected to the rantings of Angelo Cataldi and all the other “can McNabb” idiots
• Wondering how long players like Jevon Kearse and Darren Howard are going to continue to steal money from Eagles ownership
• Praying that Brian Westbrook doesn’t get fed up with the Eagles’ offensive philosophy and ask out of town

Somehow, this list doesn’t seem to make me feel any better!

As I look back on my pre-season predictions, I realize that most of my feelings of frustration stem from the fact that I actually picked this team to go 10-6. (What’s the emoticon for shame and public embarrassment?)

Oops, I forgot one more thing to hold on to:

• Praying that the Dallas Cowboys don’t end up in the SuperBowl

To paraphrase my boy T.O. – “pass the popcorn, because the rest of the ride is going to be a show!”

1. The Eagles are not a very good football team
2. The Eagles are not a playoff team as of the moment
3. I doubt that the Eagles even COULD make the playoffs
4. Donovan McNabb is having his most inconsistent season as an Eagle
5. The Eagles have had terrible special teams play all season

We were forced to endure a frustrating painful pathetic exciting game against the Washington Redskins yesterday. The very overrated 5-3 Washington Redskins squared off against a very under achieving Eagles team in a game that will never be included in the archives of the NFL’s greatest games. As a result, it was nothing that transpired on the field of play that got my ire going, instead it was the CLUELESS hosts and the odd caller into the 610-WIP post-game show.

For those of you that did not see it, I’ll summarize the game really quickly: for 3 quarters the Eagles offense was terrible, the Eagles defense was getting schooled by former Eagle cast-off James Thrash, and the Eagles were playing towards a miserable 3-6 record. However, in the 4th quarter (for whatever reason) the Eagles led by Brian Westbrook, a timely goal-line stand AND Donovan McNabb’s efficient play all added up to a VERY INSPIRED 33-25 comeback win against the Redskins. OK, before I get into my rant, please re-read my previous list of disclaimers.

Now that you have re-read this list, I need to vent. So I tune into 610-WIP after the Eagles game and all I hear is Steve Martorano and Rob Cherry whining about how this wasn’t a real win, how McNabb screwed it up, how the Redskins lost it, etc. There very well may be some shred of truth in each of these comments, however do we all have to be so negative in a game that really does not matter that much? The Eagles are not a good team, they are miles right now from being a playoff team, and we’re quite likely in the last 2 months of meaningful football until next September; and yet these blow hards have to find ways to create vitriolic banter in a victory. If the Eagles had lost, these same fans would have been killing the team all week for losing to a mediocre football game. PLEASE, let the Eagles be, they ARE NOT a good football team, they HAVE BEEN a huge disappointment, THEY ARE NOT the gold standard, etc., etc. All of this said however – the Eagles DO NOT deserve to BE KILLED for winning a football game in a comeback fashion.

(grabbing my sports bullhorn:)

Angelo Cataldi, Rob Martorano, Rob Cherry & whoever else wants to find negativity in a frustrating painful pathetic exciting football game – please SHUT UP and WAIT TILL THEY ACTUALLY LOSE A FOOTBALL GAME before you rev up your negativity campaign again.

I understand that people “care” about this story because Andy Reid is a public figure. I also understand that people will be OBSESSED with this story because Andy Reid is the coach of our beloved Eagles. However, I also believe that MOST people (including some of the local sports writers) FEIGN concern for Andy Reid’s family because they want to believe that this crisis in some way impacts the performance of or operation of the Philadelphia Eagles football club. Unfortunately, none of us (sports writers included) are truly in a position to really know what impact Andy Reid’s off-field troubles are or are not having on the Eagles. When it comes to the Eagles, people seem to take anything that they perceive to be cause for an effect and latch onto it with passion, opinion and often times ignorance.

Take for the Terrell Owens situation for instance; after the Eagles fell short in the Super-Bowl, Terrell Owens’ discontent with the Eagles management & Donovan McNabb overshadowed the disappointment we all felt with yet another championship that almost was. The media circus, the endless debates, the push-ups in the driveway – it all became a really easy to swallow elixir; it helped us forget about the final 5 minutes and the parade that almost was. I fear that this situation is in some way similar. If the Eagles were 6-1 right now instead of 3-4, the conversation would be all about how “amazing of a job that Andy Reid is doing handling a very tough situation.” Unfortunately the Eagles are not 6-1, they are 3-4; as a consequence the crisis has turned into: “Andy Reid is a bad father”, “Andy Reid is embarrassing the Eagles”, “Andy Reid is hurting the Eagles”, “Andy Reid is a drug-addict enabler”, “Andy Reid must resign”, “Andy Reid should resign”, etc., etc.

This father of 5 and his wife are living through a parent’s worst nightmares; and short of Andy Reid holding a press conference to solicit the advice of the fans or the media, we should all keep our opinions to ourselves. Regardless of whether Andy’s approach to handling his family crisis is the way that you or I would handle it is irrelevant. This is the way that he is handling it. The only two parties whose opinions really matter here is Andy Reid and the Eagles’ management. If they do not see it productive to want to talk about it, then leave it alone. I could be wrong on this, but my opinion of this is that the Eagles are 3-4 not because of this situation, but coincident to it. Andy Reid has not committed a crime, Andy Reid has not done anything to harm us or the Philadelphia Eagles; leave the man alone and let him handle it as he and his wife sees fit. If his decisions prove to be the wrong ones, he and his family will be the only losers. The city, the Eagles, the fans, and our burning desire for a championship have nothing to do with this tragedy.

Here’s my unscientific look at the eagles 2007 schedule: (it’ll be interesting to see how it all ends up; btw – I was 10-6 last year and so were the Eagles!)

1. September 9th @ Green Bay: Brett Favre throws 3 INTS; # 5 is on his game, lots of points on both sides – EAGLES WIN (1-0)
2. September 17th (MON) vs. Redskins: # 5 continues his fast start, Joe Gibbs begins pining for his race car duties – EAGLES WIN (2-0)
3. September 23rd vs. Detroit: God Awful throwback jerseys not withstanding, the Eagles cannot possibly lose to this team – EAGLES WIN (3-0)
4. September 30th @ Giants: Eli exposes Eagles defense for the first time this year – EAGLES LOSS (3-1)
5. October 14th @ Jets: Eagles second trip to Giants stadium in 3 weeks – EAGLES WIN (4-1)
6. October 21st vs. Bears: Eagles defense knocks Rex Grossman all over the field – EAGLES WIN (5-1)
7. October 28th @ Vikings: Brad Childress and the Viking offense eats up the Eagles defense – EAGLES LOSS (5-2)
8. November 4th vs. Cowboys: As always the hype will be big, but Romo will come up small for the Boys – EAGLES WIN (6-2)
9. November 11th @ Redskins: PLEASE! – EAGLES WIN (7-2)
10. November 18th vs. Dolphins: Eagles start to get a swagger about themselves – EAGLES WIN (8-2)
11. November 25th @ Patriots: Uggh! The Eagles get punched in the mouth - EAGLES LOSS (8-3)
12. December 2nd vs. Seahawks: What’s going on? The Eagles are struggling @ home against the run game – EAGLES LOSS (8-4)
13. December 9th vs. Giants: The Eagles get some revenge from the leg of David Akers – EAGLES WIN (9-4)
14. December 16th @ Cowboys: Please NO! T.O. burns the Eagles for 3 TDs in a shootout in BigD – EAGLES LOSS (9-5)
15. December 23rd @ Saints: The Eagles want revenge from last years playoffs, but will # 5 still be healthy at this point of the season? EAGLES LOSS (9-6)
16. December 30th vs. Bills: The Eagles need a win in the final game of the season to clinch the division and a 1st round playoff bye – EAGLES WIN (10-6)

Unfortunately, the biggest question marks for the Eagles this season will come on defense as we will continually see them having games where the lack of strong linebackers will be the difference.

How they could go 11-5 or better: If Donovan stays healthy for all 16 games he could carry them to the first 11 win season since 2004.

How they could go 9-6 or worse: Easy, if Donovan misses any time whatsoever, they’re done! Would I be surprised to see a 7-9 season? Nope.