Home > An amazing Eagles season - and the road ahead
by Shai Laufgas on 20 March 2007
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Many Philadelphia Eagles fans will agree about one thing: if it would be possible to have "a-last-season-look-a-like" next season, they would buy it immediately. Why? because the last season was all about sportsmanship at best.
It was a story about fans, about players and mostly about the greatest moment of sports a team can have.
The Eagles' season had started almost perfectly, except for the loss to the hated New York Giants in overtime. After five weeks the eagles were 4-1, leading the NFC east with great wins over Houston, San-Fransisco, Green Bay and, most importantly for the fans at that time, over the Dallas 'T.O.' cowboys. Everyone was happy.
Then came two unforced loses. The first one was by a last-minute field-goal in New Orleans. Though the Eagles didn't play as good as they could, losing that kind of game was totally the fault of the Eagles defense. The second unforced loss was at Tampa-Bay, and was decided by the longest field goal of the season -- a 63-yarder.
Those were only the preview for the worst scenario the fans could imagine. The whole team could not imagine what Week 11 will bring. And what Week 11 brought was a big problem - the Donovan McNabb injury. The Eagles found themselves in a 5-6 situation. They were in third place in the NFC east.
And then came Jeff Garcia, surrounded by a big amount of hype, and most important -- surrounded by the biggest responsibility he ever had. Actually, it was more than that. He knew that the fans wants A.J. Feeley on the field. Unfortunately, he was not the coach who decided to put him in the lineup. He knew he had to prove to the fans that he deserved every minute he got on the field.
If that was not enough, Jeff's first game was a match-up that should have been of the biggest games of the year for the Eagles fans. It was McNabb who should have faced Peyton Manning and the Colts -- the team favored to win the Superbowl. Well, the plans changed. The eagles got humiliated 45-21.That game would be their last loss in the regular season.
Though they lost the game, Garcia showed some great skills on the field. With these skills, he led the eagles on a six-game win streak , including three NFC East road games wins at Washington, New York and Dallas. Helped by seven losses by the Giants and a few defeats by the Cowboys, the Eagles found themselves leading the NFC East again after being third with five (wins) and six (losses).
Amazingly, three teams out of the entire six in the NFC who got into the playoffs were from the NFC East (Dallas, New York and Philadelphia). The Eagles' first playoff game was against the New York giants, at Lincoln Financial Field in downtown Philly. That game was won by the kicker, David Akers, with almost no-time-left on the clock - -23 to 20, Eagles.
The Eagles' incredible season ended in New Orleans, where they lost in a stressful game 27-24. The fans of Philadelphia could not ask a better end for the situation they got into. Of course, that many were feeling that a great chance for a Superbowl title had been lost, but it could have been worse.
So here we are now, in the middle of the off-season. It was clear that some players will leave Philadelphia after such a wonderful season. Garcia joined Tampa Bay, Donte' Stallwroth was taken by the New England Patriots, Rod Hood signed in Arizona and that will probably not be the end of the list.
On the other hand, the Eagles made some great choices by keeping and signing young, talented players like defensive end Juqua Thomas, cornerback William James and quarterback Feeley. They also scored a major coup when they signed one of the best free agent at the WR position - Kevin Curtis, who played the last few years in the St. Louis Rams. Apparently, the future looks pretty good, but a lot of improvements are needed and the Eagles must not rest on their laurels.
This exciting story is only one example for sportmanship at best. But beyond that we should not forget one important thing -- for any NFL team, the job is not done until a Superbowl title is achieved. We are aiming for that, aren't we?
Comments (3)
by Mark on March 21, 2007
I think the next few months in the rehab of Donovan McNabb will be crucial to the coming season for the Eagles. With Garcia gone, Feeley is a competent backup, however the playmaking ability of McNabb is what is needed to push the Eagles over the top in 2007. I love Philly sports fans, they are the most passionate in the league, and good luck to them all in 2007!
by Greg Varkonyi on March 21, 2007
I think the main question for the Eagles is: Is McNabb their man at QB? Remember their slippage began before the injury. Donovan is an exceptional player, but is he The Guy for Philly? Jeff Garcia proved that the answer to that question might not be as straightforward as it seems at first.
by Shai Laufgas on March 21, 2007
We the fans are looking forward to the next season. Alot of changes have been made and nobody knows how the eagles are gonna look.
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