The term “must win” is thrown around in sports more then any other.
But going into only the 4th game of the regular season, it seems a fair question to ask: is this game a must win game for the Eagles?
The mathematical, correct answer is of course not. The Eagles have shown they are a second half team, and even with a loss, they will be no more then 2 games behind the division leader in the NFC East with 12 games to go- and it doesn’t exactly take a Boston Red Sox type collapse to overcome that.
The Eagles know that they are better then a 1-2 team, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are one loss away from being a 1-3 team.
“Yeah, we understand that we put ourselves in this situation” said Michael Vick. “Obviously, it could have been better but we had certain things that happened. And some things we have control over and some things we don’t. And the only thing we can control is the situation that’s in front of us right now and going out and taking care of it, and we as players are the only ones that can control that.”
They better get control of it soon, as they travel to Buffalo next week to take on the Bills, then go to Washington for a divisional matchup with the Redskins. Once thought of as sure wins, neither of those games are sure wins now. In fact, if the Eagles fall to the 49ers on Sunday, 1-5 is not out of the question.
One player who cannot be blamed for the struggles so far is LeSean McCoy, but even he acknowledged that the team needs to improve its play as a whole, especially when it comes to mental errors.
“With the penalties, we just don’t ever make a lot of penalties,” said McCoy. “You know, that’s kind of hurting ourselves. And the opportunities to make plays, you know, we usually make them; the big plays, we usually make them, and converting on third downs, the little stuff. I think if we can take care of the little stuff, man, we’ll get back to where we’re supposed to be.”
Can the Eagles make the playoffs even if they loose? Absolutely.
But this teams goal is to win the Superbowl- something a 1-3 an NFL team has not done since 2001.
Follow Buzz on Broad Eagles Beat Writer Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks
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