Uh Oh.  We.  Have.  Problems.

I had a conversation with a friend earlier today about that despicable Eagles game Monday night.  He asked me the question that sums it all up; are we entering the dark ages?  I paused....and sighed....and eventually had to answer, "yeah, we might be."

I think you know what the dark ages refers to.  The dark ages are the Rich Kotite years.  The last few Ray Rhodes years.  The annual feeling that Detroit Lion's fans feel.  And Cleveland Brown's fans.  The dark ages linger.  And linger.  And linger.  One good draft doesn't save a team from the dark ages.  Drafting a QB in the first or second round doesn't save a team from the dark ages.  The dark ages mean three, four, five, six years without a visit to the playoffs.  Bottom line, the dark ages suck.

Of course we're only two games in to the season, and we've been here before.  I've heard it all and it is true that we can turn it all around.  We did last year.  When we lost to Indy to go 5-6 on the season I thought the dark ages were knocking at our door.  Turns out they weren't.  But this year, yeah, they might be, and here's why....

The Eagles players are split in to three categories.  Veterans that are almost past their prime, veterans in their prime, and the young guys.  Let's start by isolating the vets almost past their prime; Brian Dawkins, Takeo Spikes, Jevon Kearse, Darren Howard, John Runyan and William Thomas.  Let's leave Donovan out of that group for now.  Now imagine a world where every one of these guys is retired, cut or ineffective as early as next year.  If you don't think that's possible, ask Jeremiah Trotter what he thinks what he thinks. 

Now let's look at the vets in their prime years; Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, Brian Westbrook, LJ Smith and Kevin Curtis.  The first three of course being main cogs in the present and future plans of this team.  Curtis is still a variable and all indications are that LJ not coming back.

The young guys?  Reggie Brown, Shawn Andrews, Jamaal Jackson, Todd Herremans, Chris Gocong, Omar Gaithers, Brodrick Bunkley, Michael Patterson, Trent Cole and Sean Considine.  Andrews is the only star amongst them.  The only anchor.  Other than him, not one of these guys has stepped up to show that they are a future star in the NFL.  Not one of them seems on their way to a pro-bowl.  Sure we have some young guys on the bench, but they're even more unproven than these guys.  Look at this list again and compare it to the list of veterans near the end of their prime.  Do you see a Dawkins on this list?  A Jevon Kearse?  A John Runyan?  I sure don't.  A team with mediocre youth and lots of "potential" is a team destined for the dark ages.

OK, now let's talk about the proverbial elephant in the room.  It really is all about Donovan.  Is this really the beginning of the end for Donovan?  If its not and he really is just rusty from his injury then we'll be fine.  The dark ages will be put on hold for at least another year or two, probably more.  But if this is the real thing, yikes.  Of course we have Kevin Kolb waiting in the wings, but ask yourself this, how long will it take Kolb to be as good an NFL quarterback as Donovan is when he's at his worst?  Think about that for a second.  Even on his bad days Donovan is still a nine year vet with multiple pro-bowl appearances, several playoff victories and a super bowl start.  How long does it take for an inexperienced QB who's never played in a pro-style offense let alone a pro game to be at least as good as a bad Donovan?  Two years?  Three years?  Never?

This could all be a moot point in two weeks.  If we beat Detroit and the Giants and go in to the bye 2-2, we're fine.  But the scary truth is that if we lose these next two games we really are staring into the great football abyss.  Our candle is still burning, in these next two weeks that candle either catches fire or it gets blown out.  If it gets blown out, it looks to me like its going to be dark for a long, long time.

I was watching Comcast Sportsnet a few days after the draft and saw an interview with Sheldon Brown where he was asked what he thought about the Eagles using their first pick of the draft on a QB.  His response was brilliant, and if you ask me, it's the quote of the year.  Brown answered "if you are relying on a first round draft pick to help you win this year you might as well just say you're rebuilding."

I'll be the first to admit I was bummed, borderline devastated, that the birds didn't draft help in the secondary with their first pick.  After five straight hours of watching the draft and realizing that Michael Griffin, Reggie Nelson and Brandon Merriweather were all off the board I was frantically searching online for who the experts had listed as the next best available safety or corner.  We all agree that its time to start grooming a replacement for Dawkins.  I know that.  You know that.  But the truth is, drafting that player this year barely, if at all, effects our chances at succeeding this year. 

Let me say it this way.  I think everyone can agree that the Eagles have been pretty damn successful in the Andy Reid era, making the playoffs in five of the last six years.  Our first round picks in those years?  Brodrick Bunkley (9 tackles), Mike Patterson (44 tackles), Shawn Andrews (broken leg in the first game of the year), Jerome McDougle (not worth listing stats), Lito Sheppard (a non-factor his rookie year), Freddie Mitchell (please) and Corey Simon (9.5 sacks).  So let's see, the only two people that made an impact in their rookie year were Mike Patterson and Corey Simon.  In case you forgot, we missed the playoffs in Patterson's first year.  Corey Simon?  Its safe to say we WERE rebuilding that year. 

So back to the quote of the year - "if you are relying on a first round draft pick to help you win this year you might as well just say you're rebuilding."  We're not rebuilding this year.  We're just not.  This year we make a run at the super bowl.  I've said it before and I'll say it again....I hear Arizona is beautiful in February, who's in??

Who's more annoying than the Eagles during the off season? Seriously. I hate this team from March - September. It has been widely recognized that the NFL has become a 12 month sport. Training camp, preseason, regular season, post season, free agency, draft, training camp, preseason, etc. The Eagles have managed to have exactly one exciting off season that I can recall (2004 with T.O. and Kearse, we also resigned Trotter that year), and how did we fair that season? Oh yeah, we only went to the SUPER BOWL!! So let's see, what other free agents have we signed over the years? Was anyone

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I know Garcia had a great run last year and played a huge part in not just saving the Eagles season but in resurrecting fan interest through the second half of 2006. I'll admit it, my Eagles interest fell off the map after Donovan went down. I figured we'd be OK with Garcia back there, but the day after Donovan went down my daily Eagles conversations had nothing to do

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ESPN's own helmet head Mel Kiper Jr's current mock draft has the Eagles taking Tim Crowder, DE from Texas.  Also on ESPN.com some guy named Todd McShay has the birds taking Anthony Spencer, DE from Purdue.  Now I don't know the first thing about Tim Crowder, and I didn't even know Purdue had a football team, but what the hell are these guys talking about??  Is there really a chance

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