I May Be a Sociopath, But I Think the Eagles Are Fine
Hello, it’s me, the dog from the meme, sitting in the burning room telling you everything is fine. At 2-3, the post Super Bowl era has been disheartening and head-scratching so far. But, I am here to shed some positive light in a dark time. This seems like a crazy take, and even crazier since I started formulating it before Jay Ajayi tore his ACL but…THE EAGLES ARE FINE. Here’s a rant on why everything will work out for this team in the end. If you came here for professional journalism, you clearly didn’t read my work where I talked about Jordan Mathews having sex or when I compared Gordon Hayward to Al-Qaeda. See yourself out, because here we go.
I haven’t been blind to the weaknesses and deficiencies this team has shown. I’m one more Jalen Mills bite on a double move away from dying my own hair green and becoming as insane as Heath Ledger playing The Joker. It would be ideal if our offensive line could adequately protect our franchise quarterback coming off an ACL tear. Speaking of ACL tears, it would also be ideal if our lead running back didn’t have one.
Yet with all that being said, the 2nd half on Sunday was the first time all season I’ve been even remotely confident in our offense. It gave me hope. I could do without the fumble at the 5 or getting the ball at your opponents 30 and getting nothing, but I have SOME hope. That first drive in the 2nd half was like that scene in Get Out when the camera flashes and the guy’s sub-conscious kicks in and he’s literally yelling to Chris to, “GET OUT!”. How so? Well, they ran the ball effectively and hit Ertz for key third down completion in opposing territory. It was like watching last year’s offense. You may not see it on the outside, but that 2017 13-3 Eagles team is still in there somewhere.
Last year, there was a smooth transition from the off-season to the regular season as Year 2 of the Wentz/Pederson era provided some needed stability for the franchise. This year, if you weren’t doing a book tour in the off-season, you were on an operating table. Once the season began, this team was not ready physically, or mentally. Playing more games will help get them there. It’s like my old math tutor used to tell me: you won’t learn how to solve the problems without any repetition. The same goes for the Eagles. Except football actually means something in life and math is for nerds.
Last year (for the most part) was smooth sailing. That’s just not how football works. The waters in the NFL are rough and choppy. Ask the Falcons, two years removed from a Super Bowl, sitting at 1-4. Ask the Titans who beat us and then lost to the dreadful Bills. Ask the Dolphins who started 3-0, only to fall in back to back games. You can have your ups and downs, I just see a lot more ups in this teams future. They started as an ugly, 7-9 caterpillar. Right now, they are in a cocoon, ready to turn into a BEAUTIFUL playoff bound butterfly.
Take a deep breath, form your craziest Le’Veon Bell trade offer, and get ready for Thursday. The more they play, the better they will get. You have my meaningless promise.
It will all be alright. End of rant.