Artificial Cheese

If there is one consistency with the Philadelphia Eagles, its that they perform well in the face of adversity…sometimes. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they only perform well in the face of adversity…usually.

In 2002, Donovan McNabb had one of the best games of his career. He played the game on a shattered leg. His replacement, Koy Detmer, frantically threw up touchdown passes before breaking his arm a game later. Any other team would have faltered under a third string quarterback, but the unproven A.J. Feeley became the fortunate benefactor of the Eagles’ bizarro-mentality, turning in a 5-1 record and leading the team to the playoffs. That team imploded in the face of optimism after Donovan McNabb returned from injury.

The next great success for the Eagles rode in on the coattails of gut-wrenching anticipation. Not anticipation of success, but the absorption of the slow poison dripping from the mouth of Terrell Owens. The Eagles had a great year, but the media and thus the fans just waited for the drama to set in. The Eagles did not truely hit top gear until Terrell Owens got horse-collared by Roy Williams and broke his leg. With Owens out, the media wrote off the team’s playoff hopes, and that’s when the Eagles performed their best. When Terrell Owens returned from injury is when the team finally lost in the Superbowl.

The following year was very uncharacteristic of the team. Possibly the worst year in history for the team in terms of injury and drama yielded a 6-10 record and a broken team spirit.

So a year later, they’re at it again. Donovan McNabb blows out his knee when the team is 5-6 and predicted to miss the playoffs once more. Surprise, surprise…Jeff Garcia steps in and leads them to the playoffs. The result is a city that doesn’t want to support one of the best quarterbacks in the league because the replacement always benefits from a revitalized team. The only controversy in this town is why Andy Reid can’t motivate his players without waiting for a fire to be lit by some uncontrollable event.

So next season, lets stop beating around the bush. Just hire some south philly thug to go Nancy Kerrigan on Donovan McNabb, and take out Jevon Kearse too just to speed things up. Otherwise, get a young fiery assistant coach from the college ranks to motivate this team when its not a life or death situation.