McCaffery

holor were impediments to success. And once they were out of the mix, there would be a noticeable rejuvenation in the locker room.

Technically, that was not the 2017 template, the one where Nick Foles replaced the injured Carson Wentz and calmly, methodically and very professionally stone-chiseled NFL history. Unlike Agholor and Jeffery this year, Wentz had been spectacular that season. Yet just as when Foles gave definition to the next-man-up teambuilding concept by providing un-hurried professionalism, Ward, Scott and Sanders have been similarly comfortable with their unexpected opportunities.

Whether it makes sense or not to the fantasyleague set, the 2019 Eagles are simply better with Jeffery on the injured-reserve list and Agholor continuing to recover from a knee injury.

And isn’t that exactly how they have behaved under Doug Pederson, whenever it felt like their season was in peril?

“I feel like Carson has done a great job of just trusting everyone,” Zach Ertz was saying as a postgame party atmosphere bubbled in the room. “The coaches have obviously done a great job putting guys in positions to be successful. The running game has kind of picked up in the last couple weeks. Miles is playing his butt off and adding a spark. Boston, the same thing. So I feel like we are hitting our stride at the right time. But obviously, there is no bigger game than this week.”

That would be Sunday against visiting Dallas, and a chance for the Eagles to grab command of a division that after a stinging loss in Miami three games ago, they seemed to have little chance of winning. It is an opportunity they likely would not have faced had not Scott, Josh Perkins and Ward, among others, helped them rally to an overtime victory over the Giants. It was a chance that would not have had the same glow had they not won Sunday at FedEx Field.

Literally and otherwise, the Eagles have hit midDecember and have become a different, more confident team.

“We are all strongminded and believe in each other,” said Ward, who matched Ertz Sunday

with a team-high 61 receiving yards. “We are all rallying together to fight. And I think that is vital to have in your locker room.”

With the sentiment among insiders being that the new spirit is real, there is something else that has defined the Eagles’ rebirth: Fewer dropped passes. Not that Agholor was singularly to blame for the Eagles’ creaky record, but his continuing inability to hang onto otherwise nicely thrown footballs was becoming a drain on the offense. Similarly, the inconsistency of Jeffery, who somehow wiggled out of life-long ridicule after dropping a Wentz pass late in a loss last postseason in New Orleans, was anything but the reliable receiver he was during the Super Bowl season.

Given the inexperience of the players he has had to use in the past two weeks, it would have been too much of a risk for Pederson to shoo Agholor and Jeffery away just to make room. But when normal football circumstances arose, there were the Eagles, ready to improve with more-than-capable replacements.

“I’m so happy for those three guys,” Pederson said. “To see these guys, and their energy and excitement and enthusiasm, it is great. It is good to see them perform and play well. They’re disappointed when they don’t make plays and they’re excited when they do. And it just seems to energize the whole team.

“We have a lot of improvements to do and a lot of things to work on and correct. But all three of those guys had impacts on this game.”

With the added juice of Nigel Bradham’s 47-yard fumble return for a touchdown as the clock expired, the Eagles charged into their locker room and immediately began blasting celebratory music. The first tune in the post-game set, loud enough for anyone within 100 yards to hear: “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.”

Maybe the Eagles will be stopped. Maybe they won’t. But they have kept themselves in position to at least leave that open for questioning.

In a season of dropped passes and disappointment, it’s their reward for a new spirit that just feels real.

Contact Jack McCaffery at jmccaffery@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @ JackMcCaffery.