PHILADELPHIA (94 WIP) -- The magic is once again in the air. The Philadelphia Eagles, for the first time in this long, painful season, have their swagger back.
The rest of the NFL should be petrified because of it.
Sure, the Eagles still have to overcome the small task of actually getting into the playoffs, but if things do break their way next Sunday and they advance to the postseason, Sunday's 32-30 win over the Houston Texans proved that the Eagles will be without question the team nobody wants to play in the playoffs.
"We're hitting our stride at the right time," defensive end Brandon Graham said. "All we have to do is get in [the playoffs>. The sky is the limit on what we can do."
The idea of the Eagles even being discussed as a red-hot playoff team entering Week 17 at one point seemed laughable. The team hit perhaps an all-time low under head coach Doug Pederson following their 48-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints, a loss that dropped them to 4-6 and buried in the playoff picture.
Instead of allowing the season to completely collapse, however, the Eagles have turned this around to the tune of four wins in their last five games, easily the best stretch of football they have played all season.
"I think so," Pederson said on if his team is playing their best football right now. "I think these last three, four, five games, I think things have kind of picked up for us. I do feel like that this time of the year."
Now, if the Eagles win next Sunday and the Minnesota Vikings lose, the Eagles will be in the playoffs as a Wild Card with a trip to face the Chicago Bears or Los Angeles Rams on the schedule. Neither of those opponents should scare the Eagles, considering Chicago's lack of playoff experience and the fact they have won in their last two trips to Los Angeles. A rematch with the Dallas Cowboys? The Eagles almost beat them twice this season, and the burden of beating an opponent three times in one season -- a very tough task -- would be on the Cowboys.
In fact, of all the potential games they could be tasked with come January, the only ones that still seem intimidating are potential trips to New Orleans or Seattle.
The way the team is playing now, however, any game is winnable.
After their offense struggled all season, the Eagles are once again a team capable of scoring each time they get the ball. They have scored 30-plus points in back-to-back games, something they didn't do any any point prior to Nick Foles taking over. Overall, the offense has scored 23 or more points in each of their past five games, and have topped 25 points in four of the last five. The offense's ability to score when it matters has also been impressive. Down 30-29 on Sunday, Foles led a seven-play, 72-yard drive in just over two minutes to steal a win from the Texans. The offense also had clutch drives — with Wentz at the helm — in wins over the Giants and Washington at the beginning of this winning streak.
To win consistently in the NFL, you have to be able to score. That wasn't the case for the Eagles early on, which is why they struggled and never won back-to-back games. Now, with the offense turned around, they have secured their two best wins of the season in back-to-back weeks.
It isn't just on offense where things have turned around. The Eagles' defense is playing at a very high level right now as well, even if they did almost give the game away on Sunday. They are once again getting after the quarterback at a consistent pace, but the main difference has been turnovers. The Eagles have forced seven turnovers over the last three games, which is the same amount they forced in the first 10 games combined. The secondary's improvement, especially cornerback Avonte Maddox, has also fueled better play on the defenisve side of the ball.
Of course, a huge factor that can't be over looked, no matter how much this town might want to avoid the quarterback controversy it is in, is the play of Foles. The Eagles quarterback has been magnificant the last two weeks. He dropped four touchdowns and a franchise-record 471 yards on one of the best defenses in the NFL on Sunday. His fourth-quarter drive, one that nearly saw him decapitated in the process, was the 11th game-winning/comeback drive of his career. Foles is playing better now than he was at this point last season, and we all remember how last season ended.
Add up a suddenly powerful offense with a defense that creates turnovers, keep Foles at quarterback and sprinkle in the playoff experience this team has, and the Eagles have the recipe for make a postseason run and be the team nobody wants to face in January.
"If you want any kind of momentum, if you get a chance to go to the post-season, you need to be playing your best football now," Pederson said, "and I think that's what we're doing at this time."
Assuming, of course, they get in.
By Eliot Shorr-Parks
