Can we stop the celebrations now?
I'm not talking about the Super Bowl hangover. Hell, I enjoyed that as much as anyone. After all, we waited most of our life for it.
I'm talking about the Eagles penchant for elaborate celebrations after they score.
They pulled several of them while running out to a 17-0 lead over the Carolina Panthers at the Linc yesterday.
Then, for some reason, even their special teams decided to get into the act. They broke into some kind of dance before a kickoff for some reason.
That's when I started to get a queasy feeling about this game.
I wasn't wrong.
I've never been a big fan of elaborate celebrations.
It drives me crazy every time a player jumps up and preens after making a routine play or tackle.
No, I'm not a big fan of Jalen Mills' wagging his finger every time he breaks up a pass. He's a cornerback. Isn't that what he's supposed to do.
Call me old-fashioned.
But these things have a tendency to boomerang on you.
Yesterday they blew up in the Eagles faces.
How ridiculous do those touchdown celebrations look now, after the Eagles pulled off one of the most epic collapses in Philly sports history.
The Birds cruised into the 4th quarter with a 17-0 lead over the Carolina Panthers, and looked to be in complete control.
Cam Newton was unable to get anything going on offense.
And Carson Wentz looked like he was rounding back into the MVP caliber he flashed last season before the knee injury that ended his season.
Then it all went right down the drain.
I continue to be amazed at how little professional athletes understand the basics of the game.
Like maybe when you are ahead 17-0 in the 4th quarter, your opponent actually becomes the clock, not the team on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
So of course Doug Pederson and the Eagle dialed up a game plan that saw them run the ball once in 16 tries in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Jim Schwartz called off the dogs on defense, the Birds went from a blitzing attack that had rendered Newton and the Panthers' offense completely ineffective. They went into a prevent defense and it worked - it prevented the Eagles from winning a game they had in the bag.
The Panthers ran off three straight touchdowns to take a 21-17 lead.
But Carson Wentz and the Eagles offense still had 1:20 left on the clock and two timeouts. This is where he rises to legendary status, right? Nope. After looking near perfect for three and half quarters, Wentz came up small, failing to punch the ball in after the Birds drove down the field.
And just to top it all off, there was the Doug Pederson post-game press conference. The head coach for some reason decided to announce that the pressure was now off the defending Super Bowl champs, that no one expected them to do much, and that now they could just go out and play and have fun.
Huh?
This was classic Eagles.
Only the Eagles could take us from the highest high, back on Feb. 4, to about as low as it gets, blowing a 17-0 4th quarter lead yesterday on their home field, and falling to a 3-4 record.
They used their underdog status to rally to a Super Bowl title.
Now they're just dogs.
Only in Philly.
Yep, the celebration is over.
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