After two misses in the NFC Championship Game, the Eagles don't want to be a team of destiny. They just want to win.
By RICK STROUD
Published January 18, 2004
PHILADELPHIA - Not even an escape artist such as quarterback Donovan McNabb, who has eluded more than one rush this season, can flee the pressure on the Eagles in today's NFC Championship Game.
Simply put, they can't go three and out.
Two years ago, it began innocently enough with a loss in the conference title game to the Rams in St. Louis, a gallant effort that fell just short. Last season the top-seeded Eagles, playing their final game in Veterans Stadium, were stunned by the Buccaneers 27-10, denied what they deemed a certain trip to the Super Bowl.
The Eagles have a chance to take an eraser to all those playoff failures with a win today over the Carolina Panthers. But this time it's the players who sound as cynical as Philly's phickle phans.
"The window is closing," Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent said. "Three opportunities in three years. It just doesn't happen in an era of free agency. We want to seize the moment and maximize the moment before we could start thinking about Houston. We have a tremendous obstacle in front of us, and that's the Carolina Panthers.
"To have that opportunity again here is almost like deja vu. You're back here, not at Veterans Stadium when you are in the hype of going out in Veterans Stadium in style. Now we're back here a year later at the Linc, with an opportunity to put the past away and move forward."
Only by winning the NFC Championship Game today will the Eagles get their just due for one of the more remarkable streaks in NFL history. Three consecutive appearances in the conference championship game is rivaled in the modern era only by the Buffalo Bills, who lost four straight Super Bowls.
What's even more notable is this season the Eagles made it to within one game of the Super Bowl with one of their weaker teams under coach Andy Reid.
Philadelphia overcame an 0-2 start, a series of injuries to starters and stinging comments aimed at McNabb by conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who played the race card.
After McNabb played poorly in home losses to the Bucs and the Patriots, Limbaugh called him overrated and suggested that because the Eagles quarterback is black the media had given him too much credit for the team's success.
Limbaugh resigned his job as an analyst on ESPN's NFL Countdown three days later. McNabb led the Eagles to nine consecutive wins, secured a first-round bye with homefield advantage and was named to his fourth Pro Bowl in a row.
"That comment was made, and there was nothing I could pretty much do about it," McNabb said. "I said in my statement that it wasn't about me. It was about the youth, the kids that were watching, the ones that kind of visualize themselves playing in the NFL wearing No.5 or No.9 or No.7. It wasn't about me.
"I may not be playing to the expectations of others, you know. I personally don't care. It's all about winning in this league. If you are a winner, then no one can take that away from you."
And McNabb earned an appearance in this game by pulling out a tough victory against the Packers last weekend.
Trailing by three with 1:12 remaining in the NFC divisional playoff, he dropped back on fourth and 26 from the Eagles 26 and threaded a pass to receiver Freddie Mitchell for a 28-yard gain. That play, which set up David Akers' tying 37-yard field goal with five seconds left, got Packers defensive coordinator Ed Donatell fired Friday. Safety Brian Dawkins intercepted Brett Favre's first pass in overtime, setting up Akers' 31-yard winner.
"With everything that we have been through, I think it made our team a lot stronger. ... And here we are again," McNabb said. "We're still approaching this thing like nothing ever has happened in the past, that this is our year."
Reid has reason to believe his team won't strike out in the NFC championship.
"This group has been resilient," he said. "They have been tested a little bit, more maybe than the others as far as the number of people that have been lost and then starting out 0-2. They have played with big hearts throughout the year."
But don't call the Eagles a team of destiny. That label was affixed to the Packers this season. Last season it was Philadelphia's.
"No destiny," McNabb said. "Destiny doesn't work for anybody. We were destined last year, and it didn't work."
Like the Bucs last season, the Panthers are a defensive-minded team riding a hot quarterback, Jake Delhomme. They are a resilient team that is 3-1 in overtime games this season.
The Eagles are a little more humble this postseason. But they believe their dream of playing in the Super Bowl will come true.
"I don't think you understand how much I really want to know (how it feels)," McNabb said. "As a kid growing up, you visualize yourself playing in a Super Bowl and winning it. As a kid you grow up and you are saying, "This is the last touchdown of the game. I'm going to throw it; we're going to win. Everything is going to be fine, we're going down the parade, you know, all the other hoopla.' But you never envision it actually happening. It's all talk when you're with your friends. And we're here."
