Andrew Noel, Staff

In one of the best games of the season, the Eagles edged past the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, to improve their record to an NFL best 10-1. The win also gives the Birds a five game win streak, which, given the difficulty of the opponents they have had to face, is very impressive. 

Sunday’s game was not dissimilar to how most Eagles games have gone this season, with the team playing some terrible football in the first half (particularly on offense), only to make key halftime adjustments and blow the opposition away in the second half. This marked the fourth straight game the Eagles have won after trailing at the half. While the 10-1 record is great, this style of play is not sustainable, and is something that the team will need to improve on if they want to be playing at the pointy end of the season. 

A main criticism of the team before the season began was that while there was no doubt they were a good football team, some fans and media members questioned if they had the capability of beating the league’s best teams. This last stretch of games has proved all of the doubters wrong, and then some. In the last six weeks, the Eagles have beaten the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs (on the road), Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. It is worth noting that the Eagles have the hardest schedule in the NFL, two-thirds of the way through the season, there is no doubt that the birds have passed every test that they have been given.  

As great as they have been, now is not the time to get complacent, with the next three games being against the San Francisco 49ers (in a rematch of last year’s NFC CHampionship game), the Dallas Cowboys (in Dallas) and the Seattle Seahawks (in Seattle). The Eagles can easily have a record of 10-4 three weeks from now. As good as they have been, there is still work to be done, with the team’s ultimate goal to be the one seed in the NFC playoffs, which would earn them a first round bye, and home field advantage until the Super Bowl.  

Before this season, fans were conflicted as to what the goal for the team should be, some being happy with a playoff appearance and others wanting to get back to the Super Bowl. If the first 11 games of the season have taught us anything, it is that the goal of this team should be to win the Super Bowl, and anything less than a Broad Street parade in mid-February would be a failure.  

Sunday was another great day for the Eagles, in a season that has been filled with them. Fans are rightly excited about how good the team is, however, there is no need to remind Philadelphia sports fans that, sometimes, the best team does not make it to the end. As good as the Eagles have been, there is still a lot of work to be done, and it starts this Sunday against a fired up San Francisco team in what is sure to go down as one of the best games of this NFL season.