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  • Just in case anybody thinks the Eagles are favorites........

    I love this-- this should be posted in the locker room and be mandatory reading for all players at least once a week.

    This lack of respect should provide some fire.
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////



    Few pick Birds for playoffsOnline, in Vegas, and at newsstands, Birds are counted out.


    By Bob Brookover
    Inquirer Staff Writer

    Expectations for the Eagles are at a 21st-century low as the team opens training camp today at Lehigh University.

    It's not that the Eagles don't believe they can rebound from the disastrous season in which they tumbled from the top of the NFC to the bottom of the NFC East. It's just that few people outside Philadelphia believe that the Eagles are going to regain their status as one of the NFL's elite teams.

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    In recent years, the Eagles went into the season as the overwhelming favorites to win the NFC East and were picked by many to win the NFC championship.

    At least a few publications also picked the Eagles to win the Super Bowl.

    This year, no national publication expects the Eagles to win it all and few expect them to even find their way back to the postseason.

    Five of the better-known magazines - Athlon, Lindy's, Pro Football Weekly, Sporting News, and Street & Smith's - pick the Carolina Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Only Lindy's picks the Eagles to win the NFC East. The Dallas Cowboys are the choice of Athlon, Sporting News and Street & Smith's. Pro Football Weekly picks the Washington Redskins.

    Las Vegas odds?

    According to Vegas.com, the Eagles are an 18-1 shot to win the Super Bowl, which makes them the longest shot on the board among NFC East teams.

    Power rankings?

    According to ESPN.com, the Eagles are 18th among the NFL's 32 teams. The three other teams in the division are ranked among the top 11.

    CBS SportsLine.com has the Eagles ranked 11th, with the Cowboys and New York Giants in front of them and the Redskins three spots back.

    Only Foxsports.com seems to think that the Eagles can bounce back. It has them ranked ninth in the NFL, ahead of the three other teams in their division.

    SI.com says that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is a falling star, which means its expectations of the team can't be too high, either.

    "It really doesn't matter where they predict you to finish," Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown said last month. "The bottom line is they can't predict injuries and they can't predict team chemistry. They don't know what's going to happen over the course of the season. They just look at that paper and see what guys have done statistically, and those stats don't carry over into the next season, so it's a bunch of bull."

    Brown said it was impossible to look at the Eagles on paper and say that they are a last-place team, even though that is what the standings said at the end of last season.

    "Everyone is trying to evaluate us on last season, but I don't recall one starter being healthy the whole year on the offensive side of the ball, so how do you really get a true evaluation of that?" Brown said. "On paper, how can you say we're a last-place team? But it's not for me to say whether we are or we aren't. We have to go out and prove what we are."

    One of coach Andy Reid's favorite sayings at the start of each season is: "Every year is different." He said it before the start of last season and, boy, was he right. It doesn't get much different than the story of the Eagles' 2005 season.

    The Eagles are convinced that this year is going to be different, too. Even the team's newcomer seems to believe that good chemistry and better health will do wonders for a team that went bad a year ago.

    "A lot of times when you don't have a lot of discipline and you don't have a lot of continuity on your team, that's what can win and lose football games," defensive end Darren Howard said. "It's not always the talent that wins. A lot of intangibles go along with it. Every year is different."

    Nobody knows how the Eagles or any other team will fare on the injury front, but team chemistry has been a primary theme since that day last November when wide receiver Terrell Owens was banished by Reid.

    The message reached every corner of the locker room.

    "There's 11 men on the field, and you have to be able to look at the next man on the field and depend on him to do his job," Brown said. "If everybody isn't on the same page every single Sunday, then it isn't going to work. That's why chemistry is important. And it doesn't necessarily come from the head coach. It comes from the veterans who establish what they want to get done, and it trickles down."

    What the Eagles want to accomplish is obvious but not simple. They want to be among the best in the NFL again, even if a lot of people outside Philadelphia don't think it's possible.

    Off the Radar

    Here's how some of the top pro football Web sites rate the Eagles this season in their power rankings:

    Espn.com 18th

    Cbs.sportsline.com 11th

    Foxsports.com 9th

    Footballfutures.com 18th

    Footballabout.com 18th

    NFC East

    Here's who the some top magazines pick to win the division:

    Dallas: Street & Smith's, The Sporting News; Athlon.

    Washington: Pro Football Weekly.

    EAGLES: Lindy's.

    Win It All

    Here are bodog.com's odds to win the Super Bowl:

    Seahawks 9-1

    Steelers 11-1

    Cowboys 11-1

    Giants 14-1

    Redskins 15-1

    EAGLES 18-1

  • #2
    i love it.

    i 100 percent absolutely love it.
    Five straight losses, including a crucial one at Dallas on Christmas Day, send them out against Atlanta, needing the win, plus help. -Dr. Z, 8/31/06

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    • #3
      Maybe they ought to post this one also..............

      ////////////////////////////////////


      EAGLES VS. NFC EAST

      The Eagles' record vs. NFC East opponents in recent seasons:

      2001: 6-2

      2002: 5-1

      2003: 5-1

      2004: 6-0

      2005: 0-6

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      • #4
        Street & Smith's pegged us for last in the NFC East I think. Management rated a 3 out of 5, QB rated 4 out of 5, WR's rated 1 out of 5, etc.
        "Philly fans are great....It's the only place where you pull up on the bus and you've got the grandfather, the grandmother, the kids and the grandkids - everybody flicking you off. At other stadiums, they give you the thumbs-down. Here, they give you the middle finger.”
        — Michael Strahan

        "No one likes us, no one likes us, no one likes us, we don’t care, we’re from Philly, F—-ing Philly, No one likes us, we don’t care!”
        - Jason Kelce with the best championship speech ever

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        • #5
          If I had any money I would be putting it down on the Eagles making the playoffs. Seems like a great bet right now with all these low predictions.
          Member of the Mike Bartrum Fan Club

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          • #6
            The guys on Around The Horn today absolutely KILLED the Eagles. Then Woody Paige was the lone defender, and he said the big key to the Eagles' success would be JEREMY BLOOM. Yeesh. Fortunately, nobody - at all - pays attention to anything those yahoos have to say.

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            • #7
              I like flying under the radar, I really do. But, Jeezus, it's like we've got Rodney Dangerfield syndrome or something. Which makes me wonder. I've been fairly rational over the years about our chances, and I try to be realistic, and I think we're going to be pretty good this year. But, just about everyone seems to think that our rivals have passed us by. So, who's right? Honestly, are we really the worst team in the division, destined for a last place finish, and no playoffs?? Or, are we going to be pretty good, as I suspect? Everywhere you look we're being dissed. Hugh Douglas, Didinger, the mags, the sports websites, everywhere, and on and on.

              Am I just being a dumbassed homer??

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Eaglebreath
                I like flying under the radar, I really do. But, Jeezus, it's like we've got Rodney Dangerfield syndrome or something. Which makes me wonder. I've been fairly rational over the years about our chances, and I try to be realistic, and I think we're going to be pretty good this year. But, just about everyone seems to think that our rivals have passed us by. So, who's right? Honestly, are we really the worst team in the division, destined for a last place finish, and no playoffs?? Or, are we going to be pretty good, as I suspect? Everywhere you look we're being dissed. Hugh Douglas, Didinger, the mags, the sports websites, everywhere, and on and on.

                Am I just being a dumbassed homer??
                No you're not, IMO. Most people are looking at the 6 and 10 record as if that was a based on talent 6 and 10 -- I don't think it was.

                They also look at the NAMES that the other 3 signed and they think that they automatically put them way ahead of us.

                It take more than names to win, that's why I love football, it takes the better TEAM to win.

                EB I'm with you, I'm looking, right now anyhow, at 11 and 5.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Eaglebreath
                  I like flying under the radar, I really do. But, Jeezus, it's like we've got Rodney Dangerfield syndrome or something. Which makes me wonder. I've been fairly rational over the years about our chances, and I try to be realistic, and I think we're going to be pretty good this year. But, just about everyone seems to think that our rivals have passed us by. So, who's right? Honestly, are we really the worst team in the division, destined for a last place finish, and no playoffs?? Or, are we going to be pretty good, as I suspect? Everywhere you look we're being dissed. Hugh Douglas, Didinger, the mags, the sports websites, everywhere, and on and on.

                  Am I just being a dumbassed homer??
                  it is too easy to get caught up in this prediction game...did last years predictions net us anything? we were suppose to be a premier team this time last year...where did that get us?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I think it can be argued about where this team stacks up against previous Reid regime clubs, going back over the last 5 years. We can make a FAIRLY educated guess of what calibre team this will be. But the part out of our control, and I don't feel can be disputed, is that the other teams in our division HAVE improved from those that got trashed by us 2 and 3 years ago.

                    I think this is where the disparity comes in, really. There is no question in my mind that the gap that existed between the Eagles, including the 2004 Eagles, and the rest of the NFC East is much closer now. In my mind, this division is WIDE open, and the team that wins may well end up being the one that retains the best health.
                    http://shop.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifOK, let's try this again...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I really don't care about the predictions. We probably don't deserve to be picked preseason for the playoffs. We're in probably the toughest division in football, are coming off a terrible season, and have a lot of question marks. That's the truth.

                      If people don't want to admit we were injured and capable of coming back, so be it. These guys have been calling for the demise of the Eagles for years.

                      Thank God the playoffs are determined by play on the field and not pundits in the studios.

                      I can't wait for this season. I was watching NFL Live the other night and Clayton was saying McNabb is fired up and is in outstanding shape. That got me so pumped.

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                      • #12
                        "Thank God the playoffs are determined by play on the field and not pundits in the studios. "

                        Beautifully put!

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                        • #13
                          I don't mind the dire predictions. This team needs to prove something, and I like that sleeper role.

                          But the disrespect is amazing. SI's fantasy rankings have David Carr and Kurt Warner ahead of DMAC. People totally forget or choose to ignore that pre-TO, McNabb put up excellent numbers with WRs that were anywhere from serviceable at best to garbage at worst.

                          Donovan is going to have a great year, and this team will win the division.
                          www.disciplerocks.com

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by balto-eaglefan
                            Street & Smith's pegged us for last in the NFC East I think. Management rated a 3 out of 5, QB rated 4 out of 5, WR's rated 1 out of 5, etc.
                            Management a 3 outta 5??? Really? That seriously seems like a slap in the face. The ONLY justification I could see with that is if they think we lost a whole lot with Childress going to Minny. ( I am assuming that management includes the coaching staff)

                            How does a staff that put up the sesons that we have get a "C" grade, middle of the road?
                            http://shop.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifOK, let's try this again...

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I was fully confident we were going to bounce back this year until I saw McNabb's press conference today; now I'm not so sure...
                              Whatcha Gonna Do Brother, When the Eagles run wild on you?

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