There's an old saying. "Home is where you win football games."
Or, at least, something like that.
For the Eagles, home games have recently become about as automatic as professional football can be. The Birds have won nine straight games at home dating back to Week 11 of last season, when they topped the visiting Washington Redskins on November 17, 2013.
It has been over a calendar year since Eagles fans left Lincoln Financial Field without a win, and the players are looking to keep it that way. They love to keep their fans happy at home; when the two are working in harmony, it's an unstoppable combination.
"We want to make (Lincoln Financial Field) a feared place to come in and play at," linebacker Trent Cole said. "There's nothing better than when everything is positive (there). It's positive in the Linc right now, and we want to keep it that way. We want to keep winning games there. It's a great place to play."
The Eagles haven't just been winning games at home; for a good number of those nine straight wins, they've been downright destructive.
Five of the nine wins have come by at least two touchdowns. The fewest points the Eagles have scored in that stretch is 24, which they did twice to start the streak. Conversely, the Birds have held their opponents under 20 points four times in that stretch.
The average final score in those nine games? The Eagles win, 34.4-18.6, nearly doubling their opponents' efforts while at home. The wins keep piling up, and Lincoln Financial Field keeps getting louder. The effect is snowballing, and it's just in time for winter.
Linebacker Mychal Kendricks isn't sure if the team's fans can get louder as they approach the end of the season, but if they can, he's more than open to the idea.
"We definitely give credit to our fans and how loud they get," Kendricks explained Wednesday. "That's definitely an advantage that we play on.
"If possible, if they can get any louder, then please, go ahead!"
Kendricks said he thinks the Eagles' level of comfort at home is also a reason for the team's recent success at Lincoln Financial Field; they know the field, the surroundings, the amenities and everything that comes with the stadium. It's where they play, and it's their home.
"And we protect our home," Kendricks said, "so there's that aspect, too. We don't lose at home.
"It just puts extra emphasis on everything that we do, from scheme, to positioning, to alignments, just everything."
Sometimes the fans aren't simply creating an exciting atmosphere in the stadium; the swell of the crowd can actually affect the game itself.
Left guard Evan Mathis said the team loves when the crowd gets so loud that the play of the opposing team is actually affected, the wall of sound pillorying foes' communication.
"When we're playing really well, our fans like to show up and show out, get loud and rowdy," Mathis said. "The fans become an intangible that can really affect a game. If it's third down and the opposing offense needs to convert, and it gets so loud in there that they miscommunicate or can't hear each other, you can get a [false start] there, blitz misrecognition that results in a sack, and those kinds of things impact the game."
With a win over the Titans this Sunday, the Eagles can become the first team in NFL history to win 10 home games in a row after losing 10 straight. It would be quite an accomplishment for a team that has seen its fortunes pull a complete reversal since last season began, but tight end Brent Celek said the team isn't taking the home success for granted.
He and his teammates know the importance of being consistent at home as they try to finish the regular season strong, and then march beyond.
"We've got a great atmosphere here," Celek said. "The fans are awesome. Playing at home is an advantage for us, but we've got to keep it that way."
