And the NFL's MVP is.......

My apologies for the lack of actual commentary on the blog lately. Between the holidays and managing the pools, it has gotten a bit hectic. But I have something to say. So here goes. During the course of October and November, I made, among others, the following comments about the Philadelphia Eagles, which in retrospect, make me sound like Merrill Hoge:

“They need to go at least 5-3 if not 6-2 to make the playoffs. Unlikely at best.
it is a shame that this team will be the 92nd straight team to play professional sports for the city of Philadelphia (big 4 sports only) without winning a championship.”

“And now, their fingertips, which had been hanging desperately to the edge for a while, slipped off, leading to a rapid descent that promises a long fall and no quick way back up toward the top….the bottom line is this: Philadelphia, there will be no Super Bowl title this year. There will be no Super Bowl title any time soon”

“The Eagles are done. They have quit. They can’t stop the run. They cannot generate a pass rush. And they cannot throw the ball more than about 5 yards down the field.”

But then a funny thing happened on the way to playing like the Sixers and the Flyers. Jeff Garcia became the league’s most valuable player. That’s right. Read it again. Let it sink in. He will not win the MVP award. He will not even be mentioned as such. But is there any player on any team, including LaDanian Tomlinson and Drew Brees and Vince Young, who has meant more to his team this season than Jeff Garcia? No way.

Garcia’s stats are good. He has had a quarterback rating of over 90 in all five games that he has started. He has 10 touchdowns while throwing only two interceptions. He has completed over 62% of his passes. But that is only part of the story. He plays with a passion and emotion that few in this league, including Donovan McNabb, possess. He has leadership abilities that encourage all his teammates to believe in and support him. He manages a game so effectively and keeps those chains moving in a way that I am guessing (I cannot seem to find these stats online) that the Eagles time of possession has improved by probably somewhere between 5-10 minutes a game since he took over.

The last statement, while not given a lot of press, cannot be underrated. This defense could not generate any pass rush or stop the run at all for the middle part of the season. Now they are playing with passion, making turnovers, getting some heat on the quarterback, and looking respectable against the run. Yes, part of the credit belongs with Andy Reid, Jim Johnson, and certainly Brian Dawkins, who continues to be the lifeblood and spirit of this team. But a lot of that enhanced performance is due to Garcia, his leadership and his ball control. And, yes, it makes me nervous to say Jeff Garcia and enhanced performance in the same sentence.

So that is why I think Jeff Garcia is the NFL’s most valuable player. And who knows if they will parlay this into anything. The NFC is such that they could lose in the first round of the playoffs, or they legitimately get all the way back to the bowl. And if you get there, you never know. So while you never know what will happen, this is a rare case where anything is gravy. Because Jeff Garcia made the Eagles relevant again in 2006. And that was impossible 4 weeks ago.

So, to the upper deck guy I said “screw you” to in my October 30th post, I now say, I am sorry, this Eagles team has now earned that hour of my time back, and that you were right.

And to Grossy, my good friend who never stopped believing even when (or especially because) I told him he was insane, I say “Our Philadelphia Eagles Put Your Hands Up…BIRDS TO THE BOWL”