Season of Thanksgiving

By: KO Kelly

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year. It is a time for family and friends to gather together and share their appreciation for each other. It is a time to reflect on all the good in our lives and forget the bad for at least a day. It is also a time for assessing your NFL team’s playoff chances.

At this point in the season, there is enough tape to know the real contenders vs the great pretenders. This time last year at 9-1 we were firmly in the contenders category with some fans already planning their trips to Minnesota. However, this year our Birds are barely even pretending, which led to a very different atmosphere at the many Eagles’ faithful Thanksgiving tables yesterday.

There was frustration over the lack of offensive production. Sarcastic but somewhat serious offers to suit up in the secondary on Sunday. Shock over OC Mike Groh’s bewildering admission that it has been “challenging” to incorporate Golden Tate into the offense (Mike if you are reading, this is an example of what we call “Things you can think but cannot say out loud”!) Much disgust was expressed over the perceived lack of fight during the Saints’ game.

However, the most common sentiment was the disappointment in watching the “New Normal” play out a lot more like the dark days of Rich Kotite and Ray Rhodes than the beginning of a dynasty in the mold of Walsh, Noll, and yes even Belichick.

After last year’s magical season, we never anticipated having to deal with this type of reality so soon. Would we eventually lose? Yes. Would we eventually lose multiple games, in a row, at home? Yes. Would we eventually get blown out? Yes. But not this year, not all before week 12.

Or so we thought. However, that is the thing about any given football season, they are each surprising and unpredictable in their own special way, much like the seasons of our lives. These past two seasons, especially, offer two important lessons:

• When a group of individuals band together for a common cause in the face of immense adversity – immortal greatness can be achieved
• No matter what you have achieved in the past, nothing is given to you today or tomorrow

While our playoff chances still hang ever-so-slightly in the balance, let’s not focus on what we wanted this year to be. Instead, let’s remember why we watch football in the first place: for entertainment. We were thoroughly entertained last year and while it’s fair to get upset during the games this year, once it’s over – let’s just leave it at that. Remember, the highs would not feel as good without these lows.

Thankfully, this week our Birds will show a little more life and urgency as they put forth their best performance at home for the first time since September with a somewhat tense but definitive win against the Giants.

Eagles Win 24 - 17
Record 5-6