With a lame 9-7 record, the Eagles have stumbled into victory in the NFL East, which once was a premiere football division. Can you remember that far back? Yeah, me neither.
I write this as an Eagles fan, but not a homer drone. I root for them even when they chronically lose to hapless opponents (37-31 loss to Miami) balanced by occasionally beating stronger opponents (Green Bay, 34-27).
Sunday’s victory — in which the offense was punchless for most of three quarters — was hollow, kind of like being the tallest midget in the room. (Are we allowed to say “midget”?)
Anyway, my first impulse — after squelching an urge to buy a “The East Is Not Enough” T-shirt — was a sense of dread. We are not worthy, especially playing with a cast of cast-offs. Then I thought about it a little more.
Didn’t we win the Super Bowl with a backup?
We did. (Thank you, Nick Foles.)
And weren’t we home underdogs?
Yes we were.
Then, playing sportswriter, I looked at the Eagles team stats and had a surprise. While we were 12th in points, 14th in yards, 11th in passing yards and 11th in rushing yards, there was much good news.
Against our opponents, we won total first downs, third down conversions, total offensive yards, offense, rushing, sacks, touchdowns, time of possession and turnover ratio.
These stats are against opponents, not the league, but that is encouraging. And since I believe the Eagles usually do the opposite of expectations, that suggests a Super Bowl win, even though there’s no way they should beat a team with 13 or more wins.
Perfect! I’m smelling the scent of underdogs.
Regular readers will remember I predicted — as opposed to wanted — an Eagles loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl. If the Eagles won, I wrote, I would eat that column. And I did.
Just so you know who you are dealing with.
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