Phillies not Eagles

The nut graph of Bob Ford’s insightful piece about how the Phillies, and not the Eagles, were the Philly team to parade down Broad Street with a championship trophy:

 

The Eagles made four straight trips to the conference championship game, advancing to the Super Bowl on the last of those. Since that game - that three-point loss to the Patriots that is best remembered for the wretched two-minute drill and the retching quarterback - the see-saw has steadily shifted on its fulcrum.

 

They are 28-27 in the regular season since and the air of expectation has slowly escaped from the balloon. The stadium is still packed, the revenue is still streaming into the organization and the Eagles have pulled off the difficult exacta of remaining popular while not being particularly liked. The fans root for them with their heads, but have zipped their scarred hearts into a back pocket for safe keeping.