For three quarters yesterday, the Eagles did their best imitation of a playoff contender.
Not just the token representative from the NFC Least, but a team that might actually do some damage once they got there.
Chip Kelly was calling a masterful game.
Nick Foles was erasing the last few remaining doubts by doing things everyone continues to say he can't do.
The defense continued its weekly march toward greatness, throwing a shutout at the Redskins and making Robert Griffin III look confused and disinterested in the process.
Then they played the fourth quarter.
Up 24-0, the Eagles for some reason went into a shell, repeating the near disaster from opening night when they bolted to a big lead over the Redskins, only to see them claw back and almost win it.
The Redskins managed to put up two consecutive TDs, coupled with two successful two-point conversions, to put them just one score and another two-pointer from tying the game.
I kept looking for the Eagles offense to go on the same kind of long, crushing drive that they used to choke the life out of the Packers last week, when they got the ball back with 9:32 leftin the fourth quarter and never gave it back.
Not this week.
Instead, it was pins and needles time, right up until RGIII for some reason decided to throw a ball up for grabs in the end zone, where it was picked off by Brandon Boykin.
The Eagles prevailed. They now stand alone in first place in the NFC East, since the Cowboys were sitting the week out on their bye week.
I would repeat the three things I offered at the start of this blog.
This was Chip Kelly's finest day as a coach. His play-calling was consistently three steps ahead of the Redskins, in particular his excellent use of screens.
Nick Foles continues to open eyes - both with his arm and his feet. When you have a back like LeSean McCoy, who draws all the attention of the defense, it's clear Foles is becoming more and more adept about pulling the ball back on those read-option calls and picking up yards with his legs. Time after time, the Redskins' ends completely ignored Foles to crash down on McCoy. Foles nicely made them pay.
But it was his arms that was the real eye-opener for me yesterday. I've always had my concerns about Foles' arm strength. But he threw several of the deep 'out' patterns that are the hallmark of a big-time NFL quarterback.
And he continues to quickly read the field and get the ball to the right guy, distributing it between DeSean Jackson, Riley Cooper, Jason Avant, Brent Celek and Zach Ertz, all of whom caught balls yesterday.
The defense is starting to border on being dominant, in particular the defensive line, which is getting outstanding play from Fletcher Cox and Bennie Logan.
The Birds now have a week off for their bye, before a date at the Linc with the Arizona Cardinals. And that's another thing. The Eagles did something yesterday they had not done in more than a year. They won a game in South Philly at Lincoln Financial Field. The place was jumping yesterday, and the Eagles jumped all over the 'Skins at the outset, pushing the fans over the edge, even if they did cause a bit of angst with that fourth quarter.
How good is this team? And how good can they be?
That's a question for Chip Kelly. And so far he's had just about all the right answers.
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