A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

OR MAYBE THIS IS STILL DENIAL:  Folks anticipating my annual Stages of Eagles Grief post will find themselves disappointed right now, because I'm not grieving.  This season started with meager hopes -- "let's see how Kevin Kolb develops, and maybe we'll go 7-9 or 8-8," more or less.  As the bye week hit we still didn't know what we had -- a team that owned Atlanta at home but looked puny at Washington and Tennessee, and with neither Kolb nor Michael Vick able to maintain the job consistently.

And then, wow.  You don't get much bigger in-season highs from your football team than what this one delivered -- beating Peyton Manning at home, then the ridiculous explosion at Washington and the 4th and 1 pitch to McCoy to beat the Giants, and then Miracle at the Meadowlands 2.0.  The next two weeks, though, let the air out of the tires some and reminded us that while the offense could be world-class, the defense was decidedly a work in progress.

But there were were, again, at the two minute warning last night with DeSean Jackson standing alone awaiting a punt, and ohmygodaretheykickingtohim?  And then ... I've never seen the air deflate from a balloon as quickly as what happened in the crowd upon the endzone interception.  It wasn't an angry reaction, just stunned, and then really a sense of oh, well, we weren't winning it all anyway.  Because we knew what we had, and what we didn't quite have here. It was a fun season, but not a great one.  A few more notes:

1. This town is not going to turn on David Akers, despite his missing two field goals yesterday. He's the longest-tenured athlete in Philadelphia -- his first full season was 1999, McNabb's first -- and his long-term excellence (plus whatever personal issues were going on) have earned him a pass on this one.
2. I'm still wishy-washy on Vick.  Do I cheer for him?  Yes.  But his brutality towards animals prevents me from embracing him as a fan the way I did for Donovan McNabb and still do for Chase Utley.
3. But then there's Kevin Kolb, who's already playing the do you want him? or do you want me? because I want you! card.  Yes, he should be starting somewhere, and I guess it won't be here.
4. Next year, the Patriots and Jets come here and the Bears and Falcons are on the schedule.  At least we get the full NFC West.