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It'll Be Okay...
By Craig Berosh
phillypage2 columnist (1-19-2004)
OK, maybe a little. I’m doing much better this year when compared to after last year’s disaster in the NFC championship. I have already past my “shock-and-awe” phase where I can’t speak or eat and just continue to drink in silence. I’m also past the stage where I just want to punch and kick things. That didn’t happen until after a full week last year, so I’m ahead of schedule. I’m currently at the point where I just curse a lot and repeat the “Fly Eagles, Fly” song over and over in my head. I have modified the song slightly by replacing the word “Fly” with “Die.”
My rehabilitation has already begun. I’m on the long road to recovery. Somehow I was blinded last year and either didn’t see the Bucs coming or just believed that it was our turn after paying our dues with the loss to the Rams. Last year was devastating; this year there was more to cushion the blow. I’ll be OK soon. For the next month, I will wean myself off of football. I won’t really pay much attention to any Super Bowl hype (maybe I’ll get into the Democratic presidential race instead -- just kidding). I’ll watch the game and hope to win a few bets. After the Super Bowl, a dark and scary time, I will find comfort in my routines. Then, when I feel fully recovered, I will once again think about the future of the Eagles. Here’s my current recovery schedule:
March: How’s Donovan doing? It all starts with him. In my opinion, you can’t blame McNabb for the loss. He looked pretty sharp and played okay before the injury. It was the offensive line and receivers that let him down. That being said, he has to have a better overall year in 2004-05 than he did this year. Remember, the guy is the highest paid player in the league.
April: Can we continue relying on unproven players on the defensive line? Nobody can predict or avoid injury, but Hollis Thomas, Paul Grasmaitis, Derrick Burgess, Jerome McDougle, Jamal Green, N.D. Kalu and Brandon Whiting should all pull their money and give a percentage to Corey Simon and Darwin Walker.
May: Please, not another year of Pinkston and Thrash! Andy Reid has only lied to me once. That was when Donovan McNabb was a rookie and he told me that Doug Pederson could run his offense. Liar. If he tells me that the team can win next year with those two stooges (especially Thrash) as our starting wide receivers, then he’s a double liar, which is really not a nice thing to be. I did a little research and found that the Eagles do have a wide receivers coach by the name of David Culley.
June: Are Sheppard and Brown good enough? From the looks of it, NO! I’m not sure when it happened, but somewhere during the season Sheppard became one of those corners that officials love to call penalties on and every quarterback in the league just throws the ball his way. Everyone seems to think Taylor and Vincent are history. Could be scary.
July: Do we have a problem on the offensive line? I thought this was a solid group, but against a good (Panthers) and a not-so-good (Packers) defensive line, we gave up a lot of sacks and looked really bad against the blitz and our quarterback took a beating. All of a sudden, Tre Thomas looks like the weakest link.
August: Is Andy Reid a choker? I think Reid the coach is fine and really doesn’t have to change too much. However, in my opinion, this is the year that Reid the personnel decision maker needs to bring in some impact players, and I’m not talking about Nate Wayne here. A big-time wide receiver, pass rusher and middle linebacker come to mind.
September: What devastating third-straight playoff loss? I feel better already.