Whoa, whoa, whoa. People are jumping ship on this season mighty quickly after Tuesday night's embarrassing loss to the Vikings, not to mention 52 minutes of awful football against the Giants. Suddenly there are a rash of predictions calling for the Eagles to be one-and-done in the playoffs. Now that could very well be the case, because whether it's the Pack, G-Men, or Bucs, there are no gimmies coming up in the first round. However, it needs to be stressed somewhere that the past two games were outliers for the most part in what has otherwise been a surprisingly good year. Let's examine the glass-half-full take for a moment. The Eagles have a bye. Not in the traditional sense of the word obviously, but that's what Week 17 has become. The starters get some much needed rest, while the coaching staff uses the extra few days to prepare for their likely opponents. They can't begin to construct an entire gameplan until Sunday night, but they can at least check out some additional film. That's a big plus right there, because Andy Reid's teams are known for how well they play after a week off. It's not quite that long, due to their previous game being postponed and the Wild Card playoff game scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 9, but it's still good for the team. Looking at the slate of potential opponents, we've already seen how the Eagles match up against several of them. Green Bay defeated the Eagles by seven points on opening day, but Michael Vick thought they would have won had he played the entire game. They're just as beat up as the Birds, too, putting 14 players on injured reserve so far. The Eagles have also won six in a row against the Giants, who look completely demoralized of late. Their complete implosion in the Miracle carried over to last week's game, where Green Bay absolutely handed it to them. Division rivals are always dangerous, but they are beatable. Even looking ahead a little bit, Philadelphia is 1-1 against the top two teams in the conference. Should they advance, the Birds already dismantled the likely top-seeded Falcons, and were within striking distance of a comeback in Chicago, despite a host of horrible circumstances before and during the game. You may simply be of the opinion the Eagles aren't good enough, or have too many injuries. Plenty of fans still weren't sold on this team as a contender to begin with, all of which are fair assessments. I just think anything can happen when you put their collection of playmakers on the field, and as a result, it's a little early to start waving the white flag if ever believed in the first place. Derek over at Iggles Blog must have been reading my mind. As spectacular as he has played this season, I found myself quietly pondering whether Vick is really the long term solution at quarterback during the worst parts of the Giants game. It went something like this: Are they really going to bring this guy back next season? To do this? By the end of the game, I felt kind of silly about my reflection, and decided to chalk it up as a passing thought during desperate times. I'd be lying though if I didn't admit it creeped back into my mind again during the Vikings game, and it really hasn't gone away since. Derek's take is a little different from mine, in that he is taking the "maybe almost any quarterback can play in this offense" route, which is a point we've brought up before and happen to agree with. With that knowledge, how much sense does it make to pay the older player a substantially larger amount of money? My own feelings are based far more on Vick's production of late, which has been inconsistent at best. I don't mean to pile on the guy after yesterday's review of his performance. He played poorly, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Coaching, O-line, receivers, you name it.�He's thrown a bunch of stinkers lately though. Do defenses have him figured out? Just putting it out there. It's not like the offense was flawless with Kevin Kolb either. He had a couple of great games, but got knocked out against Green Bay and couldn't really get it going in Tennessee. Maybe Vick's up-and-down play is merely proof the Eagles are still are a few pieces away, or that there is something inherently wrong on the sidelines. Still, no matter how many leaps he's made as a quarterback, I wouldn't call the evaluation process over by any means. There is some talk that Dimitri Patterson could be back on the bench once the Eagles return to meaningful action. The journeyman special teamer supplanted an injured Ellis Hobbs after the Kenny Britt debacle, and initially played well enough to keep the job.�That's been far from the case lately however, as offenses have gone at with him ease in recent weeks. Sean McDermott said they would take a closer look at nickel corner Joselio Hanson, who has filled in before to varying degrees of success. He's mostly adequate in a situational role, but has trouble matching up with wide receivers on the outside. It goes without saying that this has become a big problem area for the Birds' defense. Opposing quarterbacks are hardly daring to glance at Asante Samuel, who has had a tremendous rebound season. Offenses have been picking whoever was on the opposite side all season, but it's become a serious concern as Patterson's play has fallen off in recent weeks. Personally, I know I've been banging on this drum all season, but I'd still like to see rookie Trevard Lindley get more of a shot. He did see a good deal of action when Samuel was out, and he didn't seem too out of place from my spot on the couch, which of course is always the best place to determine such things. I know this much: I've seen enough of Patterson and Hanson to know neither is the answer. Lindley might take some lumps, but I would hope not too many more than the other guys have/will.
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