It sure feels better to win, that's for sure. Wins make for a much more pleasant day-after at the NovaCare Complex. They confirm that all of the hard work put into a week of preparation and a year of building a roster worked. For that week, anyway.
So it comes as a bit of a disappointment that some would suggest the best approach for Sunday against Washington is for the Eagles to play their reserves, to throw out a who-cares? attitude and "protect" the organization's crown jewels for the 2012 season.
The coaches have worked Monday and Tuesday as they have worked every other week of the season. The players have prepared as they have prepared for every game this year. To do all of that and then to give a half-hearted effort Sunday would be a tremendous letdown after the team has built up some momentum with three consecutive victories.
Beating Washington isn't going to allow the Eagles to reach the postseason. That is not happening, and it a brutal jolt of reality for a team and a fan base that had such high hopes for 2011. But the intent is to win on Sunday, to finish 8-8, and to send the players to the offseason with a taste of what can be accomplished when the team works together and plays to its ability.
Is there is a risk of injury playing the starters against Washington? Absolutely, as there is in every NFL game. And should a starter suffer a serious injury, Reid will no doubt be criticized with a hailstorm of "I told you so's" from the outside world.
But inside, it is important to win this game, to finish the season with four straight victories and to at least feel like something special is around the corner. Does beating Washington guarantee that the Eagles will win the Super Bowl next season? Of course not. It doesn't even guarantee that they will win the opening game of the 2012 campaign.
It will, however, provide a teeny, tiny bit of oomph heading into the offseason, and a smart, effective performance by the front office, the player personnel department, the coaching staff and the entire football operations side of the building will continue the ball moving forward with smart decisions, aggressive actions in the player-personnel portion of the year.
The circumstances aren't the same necessarily, but a comparison can be made to the feeling I had following the 2003 season. The Eagles got on a roll that year, won the improbable fourth-and-26 playoff game against the Packers and then lost to Carolina in the NFC Championship Game. It was a bitter loss as the Eagles were again denied the chance to play in the Super Bowl.
It was important that the Eagles did something in that offseason to push the team over the hump in 2004, and they went out and added Terrell Owens, Jevon Kearse and Dhani Jones, three starters who had significant impacts, of course, on the team's NFC Championship performance.
Similarly, the Eagles won their final three games in 2007 and finished that season 8-8. Then they went out in the offseason and brought in cornerback Asante Samuel as the prized acquisition in free agency. The results in the regular season were not as immediately positive as in 2004. The Eagles struggled for most of the season until they caught fire in December, made the playoffs in a football miracle and then reached the NFC Championship Game.
Who is to know how much weight a win on Sunday would have for the Eagles in the near future? I just know this: It would feel a lot better to be 8-8 and winners of four straight games, and that is the goal for the Eagles on Sunday. I don't care about losing to secure a better draft position in April. Injuries, the other argument here, are part of the game no matter what. Giving young players time isn't a priority here as the Eagles have seen enough of the players they need to see in game action. A kid like offensive guard Julian Vandervelde, who has played in just one game this year, is going to have to wait until the offseason and next spring and summer to impress the coaching staff and earn more playing time.
I want to win on Sunday. Reaching 8-8 is not going to replace the feeling of frustration I have now. Nobody here thinks it's OK to miss the playoffs. We all feel your pain. But I like to win. I work to win. And I want to beat Washington, go to 5-1 in the NFC East and start the offseason plan to build a Super Bowl champion with at least a hint of a good taste in my mouth.
