With Birds’ excellence comes championship demands
PHILADELPHIA » The simple order at the top of Doug Pederson’s list of demands for his Eagles is neither revolutionary nor complicated. It is three words long, and not a syllable more. And for him, it works.
“Win the week,” he said.
He said it once Sunday, then said it again, trying to explain how it was that the Eagles only needed nine games to surpass their victory total from last season. He said it in reflection. He said it, too, in anticipation of what would come next.
The Eagles had just goofed on the Denver Broncos, 51-23, winning for fun, scoring from every corner of their depth chart, so convincing 69,596 in the Linc
of their excellence that many left early. But they will be back. Oh, will they be back. And when they come back, they will bring something new: A demand to win more than the next seven days.
That’s what happens when a team begins a season at 8-1. Winning the week is no longer sufficient. The Eagles have to win months, and playoff games and a spot in the NFL’s Final Four. At least. They must do that or regret, for years, not doing it when they had that chance.
Were the Eagles to have mixed in a thorough performance or two in their first nine weeks, it could have been considered novel. If they mixed in more, it could have been viewed as telling improvement. But they did it, and they did it again, scoring 27 or more points in every victory, embarrassing teams. And that is proof that the excellence is deep in their DNA. And because it is, anything less than great NFL fulfillment would be a waste.
That’s their prize for
being so dominating as they crashed into their bye week. And if that is their torment, too, well, it won’t be the first challenge they’d successfully smothered.
“People who have been in this spot before, as far as getting success early, now how it is and how things can change,” Brandon Graham said. “A lot of people are taking nothing for granted. Everybody is just out there having fun
and not getting too bigheaded and living in the moment.”
There has been a bubbling theme for a few weeks about the Eagles. It’s that they are a fun-loving, in-the-moment group. But their moment is no longer brief. It has become season-long. They cannot begin with eight victories in nine games, stumble into the playoffs, lose early and start mumbling about having a second-year quarterback.
If that option wasn’t lost after they beat the Redskins by 10 or beat the 49ers by 23, it disintegrated when they finished a three-game homestand by blasting Denver by 28.
Not that they were considered ill-equipped for the task, for they were substantial favorites, but the Eagles did spend the last week listening to warnings about the Broncos’ run defense. Their response was to average 5.3 yards a carry. That’s what they have become, defiant as they are unstoppable.
Earlier, it was notable that their defense was pestering quarterbacks and creating turnovers and making it difficult for running backs. But after nine weeks, that has become expected. So, too, will wins be expected, beginning in two weeks in Dallas.
“Our goal hasn’t been accomplished yet,” said Rodney McLeod, who returned a third-quarter interception to the Denver 11 Sunday, three plays before an Eagles touchdown. “There are a lot more games to go.”
There are seven. And then there are the playoffs. And the Eagles will be favored in most and have a reasonable chance to win every one. They have the likely Pro Bowl quarterback. Their defensive coordinator will have a head coaching job the Tuesday after Black Monday. Their head coach will be the Coach of the Year. Howie Roseman, who threw it together, will win most of the NFL’s executive awards.
That’s where the Eagles are after the first week of November. They are in position to win the NFC East and collect all of those honors. And because they are, then anything less will cause an outbreak of blame, distrust and fan revolt. Eagles fans know how to do all of that, by the way. Just watch them.
“We’ll just critique ourselves and continue to get better each week,” Nigel Bradham said. “That’s what our focus is.”
There is nothing wrong with continuing to improve. The Eagles can stand to drop fewer passes. Carson Wentz could use a hair more protection. Jake Elliott fouls off too many PATs. There’s probably something else they can improve on, for, as Pederson said, he’d rather have been undefeated heading into the bye week. So perfect his team is not.
Yet the Eagles are good enough to play for a conference championship and more just the way they are.
They’ve shown they can win weeks. They’ve shown it so well that their only option has become to win trophies.