That was supposed to be it. What was left of the Eagles' season was scheduled to detonate over the weekend in New England. After what happened against Miami and Tampa Bay and Detroit, hardly anyone bothered to brace for the boom. Why duck and cover when you know the explosion is coming and you’re resigned to your fate?
No one thought they’d win in New England. (Well, no one but Eric Rowe. He can evidently see into the future. I’m going to ask him how the second season of Fargo ends.) Even blind loyal fanboys had to admit — even if it was only to themselves while they sat alone in their Eagles footie pajamas — that the Birds were long shots to beat the Patriots on the road. Really long. Longest of the long, according to the numbers nerds who did math stuff to figure out the odds. But you didn’t need an MIT-approved algorithm to know the Eagles were terrible against the Dolphins and Buccaneers and Lions and would need something approaching a minor miracle to upend the Pats.
Praise be. That’s what happened. They played well and Tom Brady and the Patriots' JV unit did not — until the end, when it was too late. The Eagles got two special teams touchdowns and a defensive touchdown and all sorts of weird stuff happened. Marcus Smith even made a tackle. It’s true. But how it went down ultimately matters less than the end result. As Chip Kelly put it, the principal question is always the same: "Did you win or did you lose?”
The Eagles stunned everyone, and probably themselves, by beating New England. They are still alive in a division that refuses to limp off and die somewhere. If the Cowboys beat Washington on Monday Night Football, there will be a three-way tie at the top of the NFC East. That means Eagles fans will root for Dallas. That is an unholy but necessary union — Eagles fans and Cowboys fans in bed together for a common cause. That is also a weird mental image. You’re welcome.
What a bizarre season. A week ago people were burying Kelly and Bill Davis and the rest of them. There weren’t enough shovels or dirt to go around. And now the narrative will shift again and people will go on the radio and say they never doubted the Eagles and they’ll do the thing where they shout out the team name in letter form and a lot of people will get all worked up. There will even be good-will pie deliveries. Philadelphia is a great place. Who needs a weather vane when we have the Eagles to tell us which way the wind blows?
This time last week, Malcolm Jenkins was taking shots at the coaching staff and talking about accountability. Rumors once again surfaced that Kelly might leave, and Kelly once again said he’s sticking around. A national journalist backed up Kelly and wrote that he isn’t going anywhere, even though he reported “discord” in the Eagles' locker room. Speaking of: Jason Peters flat out said he doesn’t care if Kelly stays or goes.
“If he’s here, he’s here,” Peters said. “If he’s not, I’m going to play hard. I don’t care who the coach is.”
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How very Ivan Drago of him. There were quite a few fans and media members who expressed similar sentiments. It got awfully negative around here.
“You’re talking about this town being negative?” Kelly quipped. “First I’ve heard of it.”
This week will be different. Buddy Ryan’s son is coming to town and he’s bringing LeSean McCoy with him. The run-up will be charged. The Eagles’ coaches will compliment the players and the players will compliment each other (and maybe the coaches) and they’ll zip around the NovaCare Complex on hoverboards with smiles on their faces. The Eagles are two games under .500 but they could still make the playoffs. What losses to the Dolphins and Buccaneers and Lions? Distant memories since deleted. The Eagles just beat the Pats on the road, and Jeffrey Lurie is the team’s new hype man. In that strange parallel universe, anything is possible.