Philadelphia sports fans can be glad of one thing this weekend: the
Eagles didn't lose. After the Phillies clinched the East last Sunday,
the Eagles crapped on our imaginary parade by dropping another division
game in pathetic fashion. This week, the Phillies returned the favor and let the Birds off the
hook, barely showing up for their first playoff appearance in over a
decade.
When the Eagles are rolling, bye weeks are torture. Waiting 6 days every week is
long enough, and once a season, it's more than doubled. But when the
season's seemingly in the tank, we're all a little grateful for the
mutual break. We need some time to focus on something other than
losing, and they need some time to get A) healthy and B) their shit
together. Andy Reid has been far from perfect this season, but that's
often the case before the bye. Bob Brookover did some number crunching,
and he points out that under Big Red, the Birds have won a modest 30 of
58 games before the midseason rest stop. After the bye, their record
jumps to 50-20. Broken down on an individual-game basis, the team is
3-5 in the game before the bye, and 8-0 in the game just after.
We've written this team off before, and they've come back and won, just
like the Phillies did this year. It'll be harder this season
considering how many they've already dropped to division opponents, but at this
point I'd settle for some watchable football. Once I see that, I'll raise my standards. Andy, Marty, Jimmy, and
the guy who's in over his head on special teams have plenty of
adjustments to make this week when the team returns to practice. The
squad has clearly been affected by injuries, but that's true of half
the teams in the league, so it's really no excuse. Still, when the
Eagles play the god-awful Jets next Sunday, Brian Westbrook and Brian
Dawkins will be back, and hopefully William Thomas too, so we'll at
least be less likely to see double-digit sacks.
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A loss to the Jets would bring Andy's post-bye week run to an end, and
I don't see the Eagles turning it around if they can't win this game.
There's nothing worse for Eagles fans than watching football strictly for
fantasy purposes on Sunday, so this team better put together a few wins and keep us from losing our minds. I don't want to spend every Sunday hoping Mason Crosby kicks four field goals.