The hottest team in the NFC... isn't going to the playoffs

Today in New Orleans, the Eagles got their second straight road win as an underdog, winning 38-23 in a game that they more or less controlled after a wild, back and forth first quarter. The eternally embattled Donovan McNabb accounted for 300 yards (263 throwing) and threw three touchdowns with no interceptions.

Seriously, who in the NFC is playing better than the Eagles right now? They beat the Cowboys in Dallas a week ago; the Cowboys then struggled with a bad Panthers team and lost Owens to injury. The Packers, the #2 seed, got absolutely punked by a Bears team that started Kyle Orton. The #3 and #4 seeds, Tampa Bay and Seattle, lost to the Niners this week and the Panthers last week, respectively. The #5 seed is the Giants, who somehow keep wining road games without any kind of production from their quarterback. The sixth seed right now are the Redskins, who are, seriously, riding Todd Collins right now.

Maybe this is all an indictment of the NFC, or the proof that the Reid Eagles just aren't clutch enough to man up when it really matters. But to my eyes, Number Five has done more than enough in the past two weeks to earn the job for another year... and if the team can actually get some production out of the TE spot, and maybe (yes, we dream) a true #1 WR (Chad Johnson? Larry FitzGerald? Yes, please), and a true third cornerback...

Well, it all looks a lot better than it did a few weeks ago. And if they had somehow not gagged up the Bears game, or the Seahawks game, or the Packers game... they'd be an extraordinarily scary wildcard team. As is, thanks to the freakishly resilient NFC East, where 8-8 looks like it's going to get you last place, they should also get a pretty cushy schedule. Suddenly, standing pat doesn't look quite so bad, really.