Relevance Sunday

Don’t come here looking for a wild celebration or crazed what if scenarios. Yes, the Eagles 19-14 win was surprisingly satisfying. They worked hard- overcame multiple low points. Some young players made important contributions- which now are the hallmark of this season’s success or failure. But the Packers are 2-9 for a reason- and although I think Green Bay played pretty credibly for a team with nothing to play for on the road- I am grounded about it.

But I am not grousing about it either. Winning always helps. There were a ton of chances to quit on the season Sunday. No team looked in more trouble than when the Eagles came out for the second half, losing 14-10 after two unanswered touchdowns, and promptly when three-and-out. But they kept trying. They kept chipping away, getting the Pack both off the field again and again without points and providing every opportunity to make the mistakes a 2-9 team does- and then making their kicks despite late-November weather- to take advantage.

Better, the Eagles have four major projects underway right now: getting cheaper, younger and healthier on the offensive line; evaluating the two rookies- Cole and Patterson- on the defensive line; finding a back-up quarterback and trying to figure out what they have in this wide-out corps. It is hard to argue the first two experiments are off to anything but a solid start- and the qb question isn't that bad.

Okay, I get it. Green Bay has got problems. But they have some people who can play on their defensive front- and the Eagles new o-line kinda dominated them some. No sacks, picked up the blitzes and ran the ball very effectively. The Eagles probably can’t block, oh say the Giants yet, but you have to walk before you can run. It may have been a suspicious test- but again the Packers have guys upfront who belong in the League- so it wasn’t an easy one either. Without a doubt, the line looked fresher, more determined, stronger- just more athletic- than at any point this season. Candidly, I don’t think the Eagles lose much not playing the laboring Hicks, Thomas and Fraley either. So let the kids play.

As to the defensive front, I am not sold on Cole as an every down player- but I am sold on his ability to bring consistent pressure from the end better and cheaper than Kalu- who is good as gone. It is no accident that Kearse has had his best month of the season since Cole as emerged as a legit threat to smack the quarterback- and the Freak was outstanding again yesterday. He’s finally got some NFL-quality help rushing the passer. Patterson is okay- but he’s shown enough as a first year player that I imagine he’ll be in the rotation next year. The interior of the line isn’t very good frankly- okay against the run and zero push on the pass- so this is going to take more than a rookie playing competently inside to fix.

The quarterback clearly did not complete enough balls to be effective- but he won the turnover battle with Favre- and that was probably a big difference. He clearly looks uncomfortable with the pitch-and-catch, dump it off, possess the ball style of offense the Eagles want from him. But a lot of young quarterbacks struggle at the outset with this very professional offense. The Eagles accordingly asked nothing from him except no brutal mistakes. He delivered. He’s got to get better- but again, there was enough here to keep rolling him out there.

The wide outs are still a mystery. We know Westbrook acts as a superior slot receiver- and will torture people. But with this sort of quarterback play, it is hard to get a real read on this cast of characters. But there is no burgeoning number one here- so this problem too will be unsolved going into the off-season. I wish a solid #2 would emerge at least- but I doubt the quarterback will be effective enough to allow Lewis or Brown to catch the 25 balls needed to prove something over the last five games.

But a win is a win- it always beats losing. Some other young players looked like they belonged: Moats looked fast, determined and made a huge special teams play- Hood looked like he is a real potential answer at nickel for next year. Ultimately, the Eagles gained another Sunday (or Monday) of relevance- the right to treat the Seattle game like it matters. They have five games left- and there should be enough here to beat Arizona out there, the increasingly bad Redskins here, and steal one from Seattle (only a field goal fave- curious?), New York or St. Louis. If they could get three, get to 8-8, winning four of their last six- they might just find some good stuff to build on when #5 gets back.