Welcome to Women's World. Brandyn Campbell is the founder, editor and writer of the Philly Sports Muse. Every Thursday, Campbell will offer a unique perspective as she shares her passion for the Eagles ...
For much of the still new 2013 season, the Eagles have had a losing record. After back-to-back wins over the Giants and the Bucs, however, Philadelphia has made its way back to .500. So what's the view of the team as they sit at an even 3-3?
No team has told their full tale of the season in Week 7. In fact, we don't even know half of the story. It's in December that the full novel really begins to take shape. But even so, we can try to interpret what the Eagles have told us in the first few chapters of their season.
The three wins and three losses that make up the Eagles' record are a study in extremes. The teams that Philadelphia has beaten have an astonishingly awful 1-10 combined record. Conversely, the three teams that they have lost to include the league's only two unbeaten teams, Kansas City and Denver. A win is a win in the NFL, but even the victories may not tell us much about what we should expect in the future.
The next two games against the Cowboys and Giants will do much to fill in the blanks about what this story has and what it's missing. More important than the record itself, Philadelphia has a critical opportunity to take the lead in the NFC East with a win over Dallas on Sunday. As if there need be more reasons to add to the buildup of Cowboys Week. If the Eagles can beat the Giants for a second time in a month in Week 8, Philadelphia will be well-positioned as the season transitions to the second half.
There is, of course, the reality that the NFC East is not very good. Unless there is a drastic change and improvement in the play of Washington and New York, Philadelphia and Dallas will be the only real factors at play. However ugly the final record, whoever takes the division gets their pass to the playoffs.
Battling the Cowboys won't be easy, both on Sunday and over the course of the season. Dallas made the football world stand up and take notice when Tony Romo went toe-to-toe with Peyton Manning in Week 6, finally losing the game after throwing a fourth quarter interception. Painful as it is to say, Romo is playing some of his best football right now. While the state of the NFC East is painfully apparent, it can be argued that both Dallas and Philadelphia seem to be hitting their stride. Accordingly, a necessary chapter in the 2013 story will be how the Eagles stopped the Cowboys' momentum. With a win on Sunday, the Eagles can take the lead and maintain a perfect record within the division.
The notion that this would be a rebuilding year for Philadelphia went by the wayside for many fans after Week 1. That idea crept back into our consciousness when the Eagles sat at 1-3. At .500, we're somewhere in between the extremes, at least in our minds. It is a young team that still has a number of its most important veterans. Will it take a full season for the players to fully understand and embrace the concepts and philosophies of Chip Kelly and his staff?
As we make our way to the midpoint of the season, one of the biggest questions of the offseason seems to have returned: Mike Vick or Nick Foles? The answer depends on how Vick's recovery from the hamstring strain he endured during Week 5 progresses. Vick remains the starter, but impressive back-to-back victories from Foles have made everyone take notice. If the leading man changes, it certainly impacts the outcome of the story.
Bill Davis has asked us to be patient with the progress of the Eagles' defense. There do seem to be small improvements, but the D now is as it's been from the beginning - a huge question mark. We hope it turns into a menacing character that frustrates everyone it encounters, as that would go a long way to creating additional intrigue to the story of the season.
Sitting at .500 with less than half of the season over with doesn't tell us much about where the Eagles truly stand as a team. There are two months left in the regular season, and each week presents opportunities for a multitude of twists and turns to the plot. Whatever the final record, so long as the Eagles keep getting Ws when they face divisional foes, we may be able to sit back and smile when this story is finished.
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