Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Why The Eagles Will Still Go To The Super Bowl...
Terrell Owens was a big part of the success that the Eagles have had this year, but he's sure as hell not the only reason they're 13-1 with a #1 seed in the NFC Playoffs.
The Eagles have been good enough to go to the Super Bowl for the past 3 years without him. Unfortunately, they didn't deliver when the chips were down, for whatever reason. That doesn't change the fact their teams were good enough to get there.
Think about this: 2 years ago, the Eagles lost Donovan McNabb for the last 4 games prior to the playoffs. When he came back in the playoffs, he was far from 100%. Last year, they were without Brian Westbrook in the playoffs. He's just as important, if not, more important than T.O. to the Eagles' offense. In both of these years, they still got as close as you can get.
The offense might suffer a bit, but the defense is still intact.
The Eagles' D is the one constant through the past 4 years. Adding Jevon Kearse and Jeremiah Trotter has toughened up their linebacking corps, and the emergence of Dhani Jones has been a nice surprise. Brian Dawkins is still Brian Dawkins and the rest of the Eagles' D is still solid.
Here's my other reason for remaining confident. Put simply, the NFC is TERRIBLE...
I've already discussed this here, but let me give some detail on the other "top" teams in the NFC:
Atlanta Falcons: What a damn joke. Their losses say far more about them than any of their wins. At 11-3, they've lost to the Detroit Lions (joke franchise), the mediocre Kansas City Chiefs by an astounding score of 56-10, and got shutout by the toothless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Any team that loses to anyone by 46 points does not have a chance of getting to the Super Bowl. On a side note, Warrick Dunn helped to harpoon my fantasy football team this year, but I hold no grudge.
Green Bay Packers: Been there, kicked that ass. We could've let T.O. play for them, and we still would have won by 2 touchdowns in week 13. Brett Favre just can't handle the Eagles' D.
Seattle Seahawks/St. Louis Rams: Do either of these teams actually want to make the playoffs??? They sure as hell aren't playing like it. What makes anyone think either team will make any noise once they stumble into the playoffs?
Minnesota Vikings: Again. Been there, done that. We rolled them up 27-16 in week 2 on Monday Night Football in a game that wasn't even that close. They have no defense, and their ground game sucks. Plus, their recent playoff history is about as impressive as a Michael Bolton/John Tesh collaboration...
The road to Super Bowl runs through Philly and is littered with teams that wouldn't even make the playoffs in the AFC.
The Eagles still have the juice to make it to Jacksonville. Watch the offense rally around McNabb, and look for Brian Westbrook to step up big time.
Like the Ravens and Buccaneers proved over the past few years, any team with a solid D and a decent offense can go all the way.
The Eagles will still make it to the Super Bowl.
If T.O. can play in that game, who knows what happens?
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