'Next year' arrives in Philly

This doesn't happen here. This doesn't happen to long-suffering Eagles fans. This is something that happens in other towns.

Other teams find "the one" in the draft.

Other teams mine the next coaching genius.

Other teams come out of nowhere to become the surprise team of the year.

Eagles fans have waited a long time to be that town. We haven't won a championship since 1960. We had some success with Dick Vermeil, Ron Jaworski, Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb.

But for most of those years, it's always been other teams, other players, other draft picks that have been the talk of the NFL.

Not this morning.

The NFL is talking about the Eagles, who now stand at 3-0 after dominating the Steelers yesterday on a sun-splashed late Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.

This was not the Cleveland Browns.

Or the Chicago Bears.

The lament was, after the Eagles bolted out of the gate 2-0 with wins against two of the worst teams in the NFL, "they haven't played anybody."

They played somebody yesterday.

And took them apart.

Everyone pointed to yesterday's matchup with the Steelers as a statement game for the Eagles.

This is the statement the Birds made: This Eagles team is for real.

The Birds dismantled their cross-state rival, a team many included among the NFL's elite and one of the favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

You can get all the details here.

It struck me while watching the game that Eagles fans very well may have hit the Trifecta.

Carson Wentz. Doug Pederson. Jim Schwartz.

Win, place and show.

Wentz continues to confound the experts. Yesterday he unfurled his first 300-yard passing day against a very good Steelers defense.

Pederson, who has yet to lose as Eagles head coach, continues to dazzle with his play-calling and his ability to get this team ready to play. In short, they look like a very well-coached team, something they have often not done in their long, frustrating history.

Schwartz's defense frustrated one of the best quarterbacks in the league, Ben Roethlisberger.

The three of them combined to deliver one of the worst beatings Mike Tomlin has every endured during his time at the helm of the Steelers.

"Next year" has finally arrived for Eagles fans.

They have the best young QB in the league.

They have a coach who has yet to lose in his first stint as an NFL boss.

And they have a defensive coordinator who is taking no prisoners in shutting down every offense they encounter.

Can we postpone the bye week?

Comments

Tom C., Upper Darby said…
They surprised all of us, didn't they? I had similar thoughts this morning, wondering what Pederson has done to motivate this team to emerge from the seasonal gate with such passion. Had he shown them video clips of weeping "Iggles" fans from the ends of seasons past, lamenting things like "They're breaking my heart"? Had he reminded them that fans are sick of hearing about player's high salaries while failing to produce the results we've wanted to 1960? I could go on. Either way, whatever Pederson and the defensive coaches are doing has produced a green force to be reckoned with this season. Nice reference to "next year", Phil. Go Eagles!