the road to Philadelphia
Ahhh, the City of Brotherly Love. I know the history behind that moniker and yeah, 250 years ago it might have been accurate. Today, you never hear it unless it's dripping with sarcasm, especially when discussing the welcome for visiting teams (and their fans) there to play the Eagles. Lincoln Financial is one of the few (possibly the only) stadiums in the NFL where it's asking for physical harm to come to you if you show up in your team's colors, and those don't involve green...and the fans are actually proud of that. My brother is a season ticket holder, and while he'd never (that I know of) bludgeon anybody for wearing gear from a visiting team, he jokes about what happens to people who do. The police did for a little while, to root out troublemakers...and they stopped because it was too scary. That's how bad it is (and yeah, he jokes about that too).
So...that hostility is what the Jaguars walk into this weekend. The history, short as it is...the Jaguars have played the Eagles twice over the years...both times here and both were Jaguar victories. This is the first trip to Philly...and I'm not hopeful. Nor am I hopeless. After last week in Houston though, I'm not expecting a whole lot. Not only that. Win or lose, there isn't much I can take from this game. Certainly I'd rather see a Jaguar win, but if that happens, given the performances over the last few weeks, what does that tell me about my team? Not a whole lot. It says we can win against a quality opponent on the road, which is good, but it also adds creedence to the weekly question, "Which Jaguars team will show up this week? Is it the team that got stomped on in Houston or the team that creamed the Jets?" That question stays around until we can show some consistency. If we lose, it makes the playoff possibility look..well...bleak, and possibly proves the injuries really have made the difference that won't be overcome. Still, it doesn't rule out the playoffs...not yet. It does say we have no business going deep in them if we get there (unless there is a huge turnaround)....so what's the point?
So yeah, it's kind of a momentum game. We can start something positive and try to sustain it, or we can roll in the snowball we created last week....and make it bigger, going down the wrong hill.
So...that hostility is what the Jaguars walk into this weekend. The history, short as it is...the Jaguars have played the Eagles twice over the years...both times here and both were Jaguar victories. This is the first trip to Philly...and I'm not hopeful. Nor am I hopeless. After last week in Houston though, I'm not expecting a whole lot. Not only that. Win or lose, there isn't much I can take from this game. Certainly I'd rather see a Jaguar win, but if that happens, given the performances over the last few weeks, what does that tell me about my team? Not a whole lot. It says we can win against a quality opponent on the road, which is good, but it also adds creedence to the weekly question, "Which Jaguars team will show up this week? Is it the team that got stomped on in Houston or the team that creamed the Jets?" That question stays around until we can show some consistency. If we lose, it makes the playoff possibility look..well...bleak, and possibly proves the injuries really have made the difference that won't be overcome. Still, it doesn't rule out the playoffs...not yet. It does say we have no business going deep in them if we get there (unless there is a huge turnaround)....so what's the point?
So yeah, it's kind of a momentum game. We can start something positive and try to sustain it, or we can roll in the snowball we created last week....and make it bigger, going down the wrong hill.
Labels: Sports
John put this out here at 9:25 AM
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