"Eagles flying high"

"Philadelphia sans McNabb is nothing better than a middle-of-the-pack team. And no one will be scared of Philly the rest of the year." - my blog, 11/20/06

I was wrong. Completely wrong.

When Donovan McNabb went down in Week 11, with the Philadelphia Eagles 5-5, I thought the Eagles' shot at making the playoffs in the weak NFC was very slim. After all, they'd be starting a 36-year-old quarterback who had struggled the past two seasons on mediocre teams.

Without McNabb, the Eagles appeared to be just that - a mediocre team.

On Christmas Day Philly looked like a championship team. The Eagles went into Dallas with the division title on the line and whooped the Cowboys. There was no question who the better team was after Philly's 23-7 domination of Dallas. With a win at home against Atlanta next Sunday, Philly can clinch the NFC East.

Who would have thought? Not me.

The Eagles have proven what other teams would like to prove - that their season doesn't hinge on one player. San Diego would like to say they could win without L.T. Atlanta would like to say it could win without Michael Vick.

But they certainly don't want to try. The Eagles never complained after losing McNabb. Despite an extremely difficult stretch-run schedule, the Eagles have put together four straight wins after losing their first sans-McNabb game. They've defeated Carolina at home and Washington, the N.Y. Giants and Dallas on the road.

Not exactly easy pickings.

Garcia has stepped in and earned his teammates' trust. He's completed 62.2 percent of his passes and thrown 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions.

Running back Bryan Westbrook hasn't been at 100 percent all season, yet he's only missed one game and has rushed for over 1,200 yards, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. He's the most underrated running back in the NFL.

And the defense seems to be coming around too. Philly entered the Christmas Day contest giving up the second-most rushing yards in the league, but it shut down Dallas' two-pronged attack of Julius Jones and Marion Barber, holding them to just 41 yards on 16 carries.

With Garcia playing mistake-free football and the defense shutting down the run and harassing opposing quarterbacks - Philly had three sacks and two INT's Monday against Pro Bowl quarterback Tony Romo - the Eagles have to be considered a Super Bowl contender.

You can quote me on it. I've already been blatantly wrong about this team once. Another wayward prediction won't hurt.