By Michael Rushton
Stop me if you have heard this one before. A team jettisons a troubled star, but success starts to look attainable before adversity and injury strike. Then the team rallies around an unlikely or forgotten star and reaches the championship.
Yeah, I probably have about a dozen DVDs on my shelf that follow that plot line. Yet, that is more or less how the Eagles' season has gone. A season straight out of the movies.
Someone put a call out to MGM.
The Eagles were written off after getting rid of T.O. and were a trendy pick to finish in the bottom of the NFC East. They couldn't possibly do anything with that rag band of receivers, could they? (Think Jack Parkman and Major League II).
Yet, Philly came out and won four of its first five games. Confidence was high and the team's high-powered offense was having some fun. But then the Eagles lost two close games and then suffered through an embarrassing home loss to Jacksonville.
Remember Mighty Ducks 2? Those other countries never knew what hit them until the quack attack ran into the mighty Swedes. By the way, can someone explain to me how they beat all the best teams in the world, but couldn't handle the varsity squad in the third film. Anyway...
The Birds got back on track for a week until the ultimate movie cliche kicked in; Donovan McNabb and his season-ending knee injury. How many times do you see it. The heart and soul goes down and the team must rally to save the season.
How about Remember the Titans, The Program and Friday Night Lights? I always feel bad for the star character in these movies because you just know they are going down.
But then the backup emerges. Sure, he goes through some rough spots (Indy), but his veteran leadership or young confidence gets the team to trust him and he eventually leads said squad to glory. Jeff Garcia has stuck to the script so well that James Van Der Beek would be proud.
Almost like Burt Reynolds in Heaven Can Wait, Garcia refused to ride off into the sunset. Okay, so he didn't actually die, but try telling the Browns and Lions that.
So now that the Eagles have their Mox, the next step in the storyline is to overcome the giant task in front of them, pun intended. And even this game is going big time. The Giants of New York have already beaten the puny Eagles before. Their cocky star wide out says the team is fooling themselves if they think they can shut him down. They have an aging back looking for one last shot at glory, helped by the All-American quarterback.
One happy ending will be put on hold Sunday. Do you believe in...na, I'm not going to go there.
Michael Rushton can be reached at rushpac@comcast.net
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