The Eagles are 0-2, injuries are hitting the defense, McNabb and the offense look out of sync, and the schedule only gets tougher from here on out. Time to start thinking about the 2008 entry draft? Not quite. Winless after two games is, by no means, good or acceptable. But, despite the amount of weight put on each and every NFL game, it is a long season. There is time for this team to turn it around. But most importantly, this team is capable of turning it around.
Here's why:
- Each and every year, the beginning of the NFL season becomes harder and harder to predict. Teams start great only to fall off and miss the playoffs, as well as teams starting slow and then turn it on at the right time. The Lions are coming in at 2-0, one of the surprise fast starts, but will they be around come December? The Eagles are not the only team struggling to start the season. The Saints, Jets, Rams all join the Eagles at a surprising 0-2.
- Let's be honest here; McNabb has been, well, bad. Personally, I thought he would come back from injury like he did last year, and set the league on fire. I was wrong. He is obviously still shaking off rust. But the good thing is the fact that I truly believe it is just rust. It is not a Daunte Culpepper situation where he came back too early from injury, and it is not a factor of McNabb being on the down side of his career; as many in Philly will have you believe. McNabb looked like his old self in the 4th quarter against the Redskins. He moved well, and hit guys between the numbers. If that is a sign that the rust is off, then half the problem is solved.
- The defense has looked improved from last year. Not perfect, but they don't need to be. If the offense can get back in the rhythm they had last season, this defense certainly looks like it can hold it's own. They need more pressure from the defensive ends, and they need to get off the field on 3rd down, but the run defense has been very strong; even with the offense unable to give the defense any rest. When some of the defensive backs come back healthy, they should be even better as a unit.
- When penciling wins and losses when the schedule came out, these first two games will certainly "W"s for most fans'. And that was important, especially considering the difficulty of the latter part of the schedule. However, there are surprise teams every year. This year's schedule is very similar to last season's in the sense that the Eagles' should be successful early on, building up their record, and be able to hold on through a tough second part of the schedule. So when the Eagles went 4-4 in the first half, instead of the 7-1 or 6-2 many projected, the prospects looked bleak. But, as it turned out, the teams they faced in the second half were not nearly as good as everyone projected prior to the season. The same is possible this year. The Saints loom as a second half obstacle. They are 0-2 as well. And what if the Bears have the Super Bowl loss hangover that has seemed to affect so many teams this decade? And what if the Packers and Redskins turn out to be the Saints and Jets of last season? Two games is not enough time to bury, or crown, any team.
Since the Eagles dropped the game against the Redskins Monday night, the start to the 2003 season has been a big topic of discussion; both by those with hope and those who claim that it is a completely different situation and the season is over. Yes, there are different circumstances between both 0-2 starts, but there are also a number of significant similarities. Basically that team started out struggling because of poor play by an injured McNabb and a genreally out of sync offense - the same as this season. What happened over the final 14 games of that season? McNabb got healthy, and Andy Reid brought the whole offense back to basics. The result: a 12-4 record and another NFC championship appearance. I expect Reid to go back to basics a little bit, and I expect/hope McNabb is done shaking off the rust. The rest should take care of itself.
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2 comments:
Oh man alive. I don't really feel relieved, but that was some game.
That was a helluva call on the rust. Do you think that kind of marksmanship can be maintained? Or was it just one fine day?
Do you think McNabb was doing that well because the Lions defense wasn't up to par, or can we expect to enjoy that kind of performance against other teams?
Tell me! Tell me now!
That performance can definitely be repeated. 56 points? No. But, when healthy, McNabb has been a prolific passer for about three years now. I expect another big performance this week because I don't even think the Giants have as good a defense as the Lions. McNabb may have some off games the rest of the way because that is the nature of coming back from ACL reconstruction - sometimes the strength just isn't there. And when it's not, I'm afraid we will have the McNabb we had in the first two weeks.
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