The Hawk

Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: Sports

Westbrook is key in determining the path of the Eagles' season.

Did anybody hear that noise? That was the sound of a window closing.

The window in reference would be the Philadelphia Eagle's opportunity to win a Super Bowl this year. Give them credit, though. This has been a team that has stayed at or near the top of the NFL since 2000, the first season they made the playoffs under Andy Reid. They've accomplished arguably more than any team in Eagles' history: five NFC East Division Titles, four appearances in the NFC Championship, and that lone Super Bowl berth, in which, of course, they came up short. In today's NFL, with its rampant parity and yearly worst-to-first stories, staying this competitive for this long is very impressive. However, there comes a time when you have to look in the mirror and just admit to yourself that the best days are behind you.

If you had told me before the 2007 season that the Eagles would sit at 1-3 with a 0-2 record in the NFC East, I would have laughed at you. With their schedule, fans and media pundits alike had the Eagles ticketed for a hot start. A funny thing happened on the way, however, namely an Opening Day loss muffed away to the Packers on two punt returns, followed by an abysmal showing on Monday Night Football to the Redskins. Also, let's not forget this past Sunday night's drubbing at the hands of the New York Giants. Those 56 points they dropped on the Lions are nothing but a distant memory. After four weeks, this team stands at 1-3, a full three games behind the division-leading Dallas Cowboys, and with more problems than the Bush administration.

Let's start with injuries. Every team has them, but the Eagles always seem to have some of their most valued players hurt almost as soon as the season begins. Free safety extraordinaire, Brian Dawkins, perhaps feeling the effect of his increasing age, has missed the past two weeks with a neck injury. The perpetually nicked-up Brian Westbrook missed Sunday's game with an abdominal strain, an injury which changed everything the team does on offense. Lito Sheppard has missed all but the opening half of the first game with a sprained knee. Sheppard has all the talent in the world, but it seems like every year he has an injury that costs him three to four weeks of the season. And the reason Donovan McNabb went down at the hands of Osi Umenyiora six times? Offensive tackle William Thomas missed the game, forcing a severely overmatched Winston Justice to fill in. Needless to say, that was a disaster. Throw in the absence of tight end L.J. Smith and that makes five Pro Bowl-caliber players missing from the lineup. Winning in the NFL is hard enough; with these kinds of holes it is almost impossible.

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