Here is how I ended my story after the first Eagles game of the season, a 25-20 win over the Patriots:
Now to talk to some friends about how much the Eagles suck.
The Eagles opened the year by going up 16-0 in the first quarter, and played so poorly afterward the Patriots were 19 yards away from a game-winning touchdown with a minute left to play. If Kayshon Boutte gets his feet in on a Mac Jones fourth-down pass, the Pats get four shots at the end zone from the eight-yard line. The Eagles won the game because they were playing against Jones (benched four times) and Boutte (season totals: seven targets, two catches). I continued the bit every week, except the one my son was born. The Eagles kept giving me reasons to complain.
The team ended the season Sunday night with a thud, an embarrassing 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers. When the Eagles racked up wins at the beginning of the season, when they started 10-1, when they had the MVP favorite, some people thought I was being silly. The Eagles were good, they said.
Philadelphia sports fans complain at every opportunity—about how unfair the national media is, about how unfair the local media is, about how our teams do not get enough respect, about how our teams get too much respect. Quite often the complaints are over the top and wrong, and they are absolutely ridiculous coming from a fanbase that sings “No one likes us, we don’t care.”
But sometimes we’re right. I told you the Eagles were bad. It just took a while for everyone to realize I was right. As usual.
