Still Not Sure How We Got Here

Ummm…I still don’t fully understand how they got to this point. Why am I writing about an Eagles playoff game? This time two weeks ago, we had pretty much written the post-mortem on the 2008 Philadelphia Eagles. I thought Reggie Brown’s catch one yard shy of the end zone sealed this season’s fate. Then, the inexplicable happened. Every piece fell into place ever so perfectly. The Texans found a way to beat the Bears and, more surprisingly, the lowly Raiders found a way to beat the Bucs on the road. From there, the Birds took care of business against the Cowboys and, somehow, in miraculous fashion, the Eagles found themselves in the playoffs.

“Playoffs?!?!?!?!”

Yes, Coach Mora. Playoffs.

Even more surprising, the Eagles found a way to win a game in said playoffs today in Minnesota. It surely wasn’t pretty, but I’ll take it. I’ll take everything I can get at this point, considering where this team was six weeks ago.

I haven’t watched any highlights, listened to any postgame or looked at any stats yet, so I’m writing this completely blind. However, here are the two main thoughts running through my head right now after the win.

First of all, the defense played pretty well today. Again, I haven’t looked at the stats yet so I don’t know if it translated statistically. Of course, Adrian Peterson was going to get his. He’ll light up just about any defense in the league. However, the Eagles were able to get at TAR-varis (as Barkann likes to call him) Jackson. Moreover, Asante Samuel had that key interception return for a touchdown, which stood as the Eagles only TD until the fourth quarter. With the inconsistent offense the Eagles throw out there every week, the defense continues to be the consistent driving force for Eagles’ success over the last few weeks.

Speaking of the inconsistent offense, the Eagles certainly struggled to put the ball in the end zone today. Clearly, one offensive touchdown won’t get it done against the Giants next week. Before the Westbrook touchdown, I had serious reservations about weather this team even deserved to move on to the divisional round, considering the putrid offensive output. The touchdown helped, but I’m still a little stressed about that heading into next week’s Giants game.

So, I guess it’s time for a third go-round with the Giants next Sunday. Winnable? Sure. Will a win require a just about perfect effort in all facets of the game? Most definitely. Let the countdown begin.