EAGLES - PLAYOFFS!!!

Posted by Alli

Would it be an overstatement to call yesterday the happiest day of my life? OK, perhaps a slight exaggeration, but it was one of the most unbelievable and most amazing days in recent Eagles history. Sure, they've clinched many a playoff berth... but never in such dramatic and such unlikely fashion. The fact is that there is not an Eagles fan out there who was conceivably optimistic about the possibility of a post-season appearance going into yesterday's games.

And yet... miracles can happen.

The Raiders travelled cross-country to pull off an insane upset over tanking Tampa Bay. The RAIDERS... you've got to really take a moment to appreciate the odds of that one. And then, the Eagles caught another break when Houston held on to defeat Chicago. And suddenly, impossible as it seemed a few hours before, the Eagles were back in control of their playoff hopes. AGAIN. Anyone remember that brief period last week when the Bucs lost to San Diego and the Eagles just had to win their last 2? And instead of capitalizing on that, they put up an embarassing 3-point performance against the struggling Redskins... that was nothing short of horrendous. I wasn't even planning to watch much football this week, as the disgusting taste of last week's loss was still festering in my mouth. And then, out of the blue, the stars aligned...

Fortunately, the Birds got the message this time, and quickly started piling it onto Dallas and never looked back. The only thing sweeter than getting massive help to enable a playoff bid was securing it with a monstrous victory over the despised Dallas Cowboys, sending them home to Texas to watch the playoffs from their living rooms. And forcing T.O.'s season to a halt in the City of Brotherly Love, a city that has nothing but brotherly hatred towards Mr. Owens.

The question now is, how will they build on this? How far can they go? The stars and skies seemed to be in Philly's favor yesterday- will this continue? And as someone pointed out: the World Series in Tampa, the Super Bowl in Tampa... the sky's the limit now with a clean, Bengals-tie-less slate in the playoffs. I believe they're as good a team as any in the playoffs this year. But will they play like it?