QB Situation Sure To Affect Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl Odds in 2011

NFL News - February 13th, 2010 - Written by John

The 2009 version of the Philadelphia Eagles was one that showed a lot of promise, but one that eventually came up short. It was a familiar story for the city of Philadelphia, one that is sure to stick with Eagles' fans at until NFL training camps let in at the end of July.

Before the regular season even kicked off, the Eagles organization was in the spotlight. Signing convicted felon QB Michael Vick was sure to bring attention, and boy did it. Reporters swarmed Eagles' training camp, practices, and preseason games to get a chance to cover Vick. Just for the opportunity to get one unique sound bite, quote, picture, etc... This swell of attention undoubtedly distracted the team, however the Eagles' were able to survive early in the season until the hype had died down.

Coming out of the gates, the Eagles looked strong. In their wins, the Eagles looked dominant. In the first month of the season, the Eagles managed to get to a 2 and 1 record, with the only loss coming to the eventually NFL champion New Orleans Saints.

October saw the Eagles continue with their winning ways. Wins over the Buccaneers and Redskins brought the Eagles' record to 4-2, which would have been 5-1 if not for the upset the Eagles suffered at the hands of the Oakland Raiders.

During the month of November, the Eagles would play 5 games, and win 3. The only exceptions were losses to division rival Dallas, and the red hot San Diego Chargers. At the end of the month, the Eagles sat at 7-4, and were largely under the radar in their conference with the New Orleans Saints being undefeated, and the Minnesota Vikings charging for the conference title. Still, the Eagles were in a good position to win their division, giving them a chance to make a Super Bowl run.

December was kind to the Eagles. Philadelphia played 4 games and got 4 wins. Going perfect through the month of December put the Eagles atop the NFC East with a record of 11-4, which was also good enough to secure the #2 overall seed in the NFC playoffs going into the last week of the season.

When the new year hit, the Eagles crumbled. In the regular season finale, Philadelphia made their first trip to the new Dallas Stadium with a chance to win the division, and clinch a first round bye. Instead, Philadelphia was shutout by Cowboys. The loss gave the division crown to the Cowboys, and the 2 seed to the Minnesota Vikings. In addition, Philadelphia would slide all the way to the 6 seed, setting up another game with Dallas the following week.

The next week in the playoffs wouldn't go much better than the week before. While the Eagles did score, it wasn't nearly enough to compete with a Cowboys' team that was firing on all cylinders. The Eagles' season would end in Dallas, with a record of 11-6 in a year which had the Eagles at 12 to 1 favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV.

Now that the season is over, many questions must be answered. The biggest of these is 'Who will be the Eagles' QB in 2010?' Where will Vick go? Will the Eagles keep McNabb or Kolb? Will the Eagles perform well again just to fall short in the playoffs? As the off-season progresses, the answers to these questions will become more definite.

For now, Eagles' fans can only speculate, but they can get a head start with betting on the 2011 Super Bowl. Just hours after the end of season which culminated with the Super Bowl, several of the Best USA Sportsbooks, like Bodog, released NFL odds for all 32 NFL teams to win Super Bowl XLV. Currently, the Philadelphia Eagles 2011 Super Bowl odds sit at 16 to 1. Unfortunately for the Eagles, should they make it to Super Bowl XLV, it will be in Dallas, home of their chief rival.