Lodestone

Think this had anything to do with frustration over the Eagles?:

It was clear to John Lee that the four guys who came into his East Germantown deli Saturday night would not be paying customers.

"They all had their hoodies pulled tight, and it wasn't a cold night," said Lee, 48, owner of the Chelten Market. "I said, 'You need to take off your hoodies,' then one of them came around the counter with his gun drawn, so I shot them."

Lee fired five rounds from his .38-caliber revolver, striking three of the bandits and rupturing a water line, police said. Lee found a fourth would-be robber - who had not been shot - hiding in the rear of the store. "He had a BB gun on him, so I took it," Lee said. "Then I beat him up and took his boots and called police."

Everything is kinda crazy. For example, after yesterday’s results, the Eagles are probably closer to making the play-offs than at anytime since they lost to Jacksonville. The Indianapolis game that has hung like a lodestone since the season’s inception is off their necks- without costing them any ground. They are still only a game out from the number five seed- while the entire second tier of the NFC surprisingly seems to be declining at a faster pace than ever. Most importantly, someone is getting in the NFC play-offs at 9-7, maybe 8-8.

Yes, the Colts certainly smoked Philly last night. Without McNabb, the Eagles are a six win team- or more accurately, just not in Indianapolis’ league on the road. You know you have a problem when you roll your nickel out there on first down- and still can’t stop the pass at all. Teams are going to rush for a big number if all you do is play extra defensive backs.

Honestly though, was Sunday night a real relevant test for this group, this year? Any candid pre-season assessment was an 8-8 team looking for reasons to believe its young talent can play. A more germane question concerns whether the Eagles have enough to get this rebuilding unit a sniff of important December games.

The Indy game is irrelevant- losing badly out there says nothing whether you are an NFC wild card team. Accordingly, I have little analysis to offer. Watching your young players get tortured all over the field means, at the very least, you are playing a lot of young players. Frankly, I’m not sure any team in the NFL was staying within two scores of the Colts last night- so who cares?

The immediate slate is more interesting. The Eagles’ defense isn’t good- but they’re not as bad as last night would indicate. Neither Carolina nor Washington is going to put an unmanageable point totals up there. And Garcia really wasn’t bad; he gives them a chance. So maybe the Eagles are really imperfect right now- but this team has a fighting shot to handle a .500 team at home (Panthers). Fortune smiles right after that, as the Redskins are a mess. They could win two here in spite of themselves; I bet Vegas picks them both times.

Certainly, these past two years have not been Reid’s best. But the guy has one singular strength. Reid’s got a plan and a purpose- and each Sunday he moves closer to its implementation.

I killed them last week- and it is even easier to kill the team today. But bottom line: this was a bad, aging team in 2005. Now it is much younger and improved in 2006. Isn’t that what the Eagles are supposed to be doing? So why all the frustration? Rebuilding isn’t winning.

Since last season was officially declared a disaster, the goal has been about turning over the roster- particularly on defense and both lines- and getting from six wins to sniffing the play-offs. Reid has stuck to the plan and to his new crew, every single Sunday. And despite brutal luck at the quarterback position, he’s just a decent home game Monday Night away not only from wild card relevance, but controlling his destiny.