EAGLES FANS PLACE SUPER BOWL HOPES IN FOLES’ HANDS
City believes team is good enough to win if QB sticks to game plan, diehard says
It was definitely time to move.
Midway through this visit to set up and cover the NFC championship game, I switched hotels Friday.
One reason was food. I had just two nearby options in Bala Cynwyd, a township about 20 minutes northwest of downtown Philadelphia: a Chipotle, which closed too early, and the TGI Friday’s, where Allen Iverson used to hang out when he was with the 76ers.
By the time I’d be ready for dinner, it would turn into a nightclub.
More importantly, I chose to relocate for the job. I needed to get to the heart of the city, to feel the pulse, to get a handle on the hopes of the Eagles.
Near Reading Terminal
Market, I was picked up by Victor. He’s a cab driver and a big football fan.
I could have told him I was going to the Naval Hospital and he would have probably known it was demolished on June 9, 2001 at 7:02 a.m. On the site now is Novacare Complex, where the Eagles have their training facility.
Victor was listening to sports talk radio. The popular topic, as it has been for weeks, was
Nick Foles, the replacement for injured Carson Wentz.
“He can do it,” Victor said.
“He’s a good enough quarterback.
“I don’t know if this is the right use of the word ironic ... but here we finally get this great quarterback, and he gets hurt ... and we win our first Super Bowl with the backup? Because I’m expecting a bunch of Super Bowls over the next 10, 15 years. As long as Wentz is here. I’m not getting any younger. I need a good run.”
Victor is in his 50s. He’s been cheering passionately for the Eagles all his life — except from 2009 to 2013.
The Mike Vick era.
“I’m a dog lover ... you can’t just kill a dog,” he said. “So for five years, I watched the games and I rooted against them. I thought if they lose all they’ll realize what a mistake they made. I didn’t want them to be validated.”
Victor says this is the best edition of the Eagles he has seen.
“This is the first team that I can remember that there wasn’t that feeling of impending doom,” he said. “Especially with a new coach.
“When Andy Reid was here, and Donovan (McNabb) was the quarterback and throwing it into their feet, we had a lot of good years, but we couldn’t get over the hump. And Reid with his time-management problems, wasting timeouts when he didn’t have to ... there was always some stupid stuff, you know? This year it’s not like that.”
Yes, Victor is a believer in head coach Doug Pederson.
“Most of the head coaches are big egomaniacs,” he said. “It’s either their way or nothing. They won’t change. Reid was a good coach for the first 20 scripted plays. If they went well, he went well. But if halftime came and they weren’t playing well, he wasn’t a good game-day adjustment guy. Doug seems to be able to do it.
“This is the team that gives me the most confidence.”
Even more than the Eagles that won 13 games but fell 24-21 to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.
“With Foles the confidence level isn’t as high as it could be,” Victor said.
“He hasn’t played as much as (Vikings quarterback) Case Keenum this year. It really depends on what kind of game plan Doug comes up with. I think it’s more on Doug than Nick. Nick’s got to just play the game plan. Whatever the game plan is he has to stick to it.”
It took about half of the divisional playoff against Atlanta, but Foles finally got into a rhythm.
“Now we’re playing a different game, a different team, a better defence,” Victor said. “Case Keenum is probably a better quarterback than Foles. He’s played almost the whole season, so he’s got that comfort level. Foles was thrown in there. Now he’s getting some rust off. If he could just be comfortable, stay comfortable and execute the game plan, I think we’ve got a shot.”
Helping will be the X factor. “We’ve got the 12th man,” Victor said. “The crowd will be crazy. I’ll be watching on the edge of my seat, just like I did last week. Especially if it’s a back and forth game. Because even though this is a better team and the feeling of impending doom isn’t as strong, it’s still there.
“You can’t put aside 50 or 60 years’ worth of angst.”
Victor couldn’t get tickets for the game. He’s OK with that.
“The best seat in the house is in my living room,” he said.
Mostly because of their bright future, an Eagles loss wouldn’t be the end of the world for Victor.
“We’d get over it ... eventually,” he said. “I mean, what are you going to do? I don’t live and die with the team. I’m not one of them people that go into a deep depression if they lose. Life goes on. I’ve still got to pay my bills. They don’t pay my bills. But I do enjoy the games.
“I listen to this sports station. They’ll be crying if they lose. I won’t be happy about it either, of course.
“Last year we went 7-9 and Pederson’s work was still up in the air,” Victor continued. “Nobody knew this was coming. Nobody even gave him any credit or any chance. Everybody was saying this year we’d be 9-7, 10-6 at the best. The expectations are way higher now, because they’ve played so well. If we can do that now, the sky’s the limit.
“Now we want everything. We want it all.”
At that point we arrived at the old Naval Hospital grounds.
“Where you from, anyway?” Victor asked.
Canada.
“How’s the CFL doing?” Victor said, laughing. “Is Doug Flutie still a hero up there?”
You’ve gotta try the cheesesteak sandwiches at Reading Terminal Market.
This is the first team that I can remember that there wasn’t that feeling of impending doom.