These Are Your Philadelphia Eagles

As we inch closer to another who-knows-what-team-will-show-up game on Sunday, I feel like I’ve finally figured out who the 2009 Philadelphia Eagles are.

As much as we’d like to believe that the current incarnation in midnight green are masquerading in some sort of foreign garb unknown to us, they aren’t. In truth, they are the same exact team we have come to expect from Andy Reid since he started winning back in 2000.

In case you forgot, I’ll provide a quick refresher:

- Reid has won at least eight games in eight of his ten seasons. In all eight, they have finished above .500 in the second half of the season. In seven of the eight years, they made the playoffs.

- During the second half of those eight seasons, the Birds have gone 6-2 five times, and 7-1, 5-3 and 4-3-1 once each.

- Reid has at least one three-game win streak in all eight of those seasons. Here’s a breakdown:

- Nine of those twelve win streaks occurred in November or later.

If we follow this pattern, we can assume the Eagles will win at least five of their final eight games (barring another ridiculous tie). That would leave them with a 10-6 record, which when you look at the NFC landscape, should be enough to secure a playoff spot.

Does is even matter? If they make the postseason, they are the same team as the previous seven who made the playoffs: a pass-heavy offense reliant on the big play that can’t and won’t run the ball when it needs to, backed by an opportunistic defense that operates better when spotted a double-digit lead.

Is that the definition of a Super Bowl-winning team?

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