The Toughest Opponent

The Eagles played the Chicago Bears tonight, but that's not really who they were up against.  Nor are the division-leading Cowboys really the team they're chasing.

Imagine how different Eagles fandom would be if this were the franchise's first season.  There would be no expectations or preconceived notions.  The fanbase would be completely unscarred, ready to cheer or boo based solely on the product on the field.

As an expansion team, if we beat the Bears in Chicago, we'd be happy.  The only conclusion we would draw was that on this night and on this field, the Eagles were a better team.  And with six good games and only four bad ones, we'd be licking our lips over a possible playoff run.

This is not what it's actually like to be an Eagles fan.

We don't really care (much) that they beat Chicago.  I mean, we care and it's nice and it matters, but all anyone wants to talk about is if the win suggests this team has what it takes to win a Super Bowl.

The Eagles play other NFL teams, but really, their opponents are ghosts.  The ghosts of playoff failures past and the ghosts of hypothetical playoff winners future.

That's a lot of opponents to take on at once.

It's unfortunate, but at this point the hard-core fans have trouble just enjoying a win as a win.  It has to mean something.  So even though the Eagles looked sort of the same tonight -- with a lot of good plays and a fair number of bad ones -- the stories tomorrow will be about how we all learned something tonight.  Like how McNabb actually can lead a fourth-quarter comeback.  Or how Reid has rediscovered the virtues of a balanced attack.

Honestly, that's all kind of BS.  Yeah, the Eagles won a close game.  And once the offense stopped handing the ball to the Bears every series, they showed a really nice balanced attack there at the end.

But if the Bears had gotten even passably decent quarterback play in this game, the Eagles would have lost.  Cutler missed so many opportunities, and looked so bad doing it, I started wondering wondering what crazy scandal we're going to hear about him after this year is over.  An NFL quarterback almost has to be trying to miss some of the throws he did.

Bottom line:  if Kevin Kolb and Jay Cutler had swapped jerseys for this game, the Eagles would have lost.

So if we're just talking about the Bears, you have to be pretty stoked by the effort all the backups and walking wounded put into this game.  Kudos to guys like Sheldon Brown, Dmitri Patterson and the Iguana for stepping up and holding on tonight.

But if we're talking about the ghosts, it's a bit of a different story.  The young guys keep making young guy mistakes.  LeSean McCoy still can't hang on to the football.  The offensive line still alternates good stretches with quarters when it seems like McNabb has pissed them off.  Four days until Thanksgiving and this whole thing is still very much a work in progress.

Which isn't to say there weren't some positive things:

• Jeremiah Trotter just might be back to game shape.  He looks better than Joe Mays, for starters, but he also showed the legs to chase down a weaving Devin Hester and stick in coverage against tight ends.  They still need to be careful how they use him, but I think he may just have a role in this thing going forward.
• Shady McCoy seems to be learning how to run at the NFL level.  With 99 yards on 20 carries -- and one very nice touchdown run -- he was a key contributor tonight, even with the tough fumble.
• Donovan McNabb may be starting to trust his young receivers.  Time after time tonight he stuck the ball into tight spaces, just the way he's going to need to do in the red zone going forward.
• Mike Vick is getting his legs back.  I would have used him even more often in this game, but even so, his contributions were important.  Oh, and as for the Cris Collinsworth quote of Andy Reid during the game, I'd point you back to this:

"The better McNabb plays, the more Vick plays.  I know everyone's desperately trying to shoehorn this arrangement into the typical quarterback controversy template, but I'm just not seeing it.  The Eagles' absolute best shot at a Super Bowl win is behind a healthy, confident Donovan McNabb.  Andy Reid knows this, and therefore also knows that the last thing he wants to do is undermine McNabb with the fanbase or in the locker room."

On to the Redskins.