When answering the question of why the Eagles haven't a Super Bowl Championship, critics immediately point to the play of Donovan McNabb.
That is clearly one of the factors but let's look at the big picture and take a look at some factors which might be more important.
Remember that the Eagles formula for winning during this period has been a blitzing, stingy defense which keeps points off the board and causes turnovers.
Offensively, they have survived on Andy Reid's game planning and McNabb's ability to throw the ball alot and effectively, yet stay away from interceptions.
Their winning plan hasn't been assembling a great defensive line then winning with a tough running game and a few plays from the quarterback.
Nor have they tried to stack up talent and weapons, then going out and outscoring the opposition.
I don't think they had a tangible plan for winning a Super Bowl championship.
My contention is that they have had a successful strategy for winning regular season games and early playoff games but they haven't had a good strategy for winning championships.
A blitzing defense is great when it's defending against teams with inexperienced quarterbacks or average talent, but in championship games you rarely face an inexperienced quarterback and you rarely face average talent.
You play against a team which have tapes of every blitz you've run during the season. They know what to expect. You have to get to the quarterback without blitzing.
Kurt Warner has taken advantage of the Eagles two times in the NFC Championship games and each time he's come into the game with tremendous talent around him.
The Eagles defense came into the NFC Championship game in 2002 with a streak of 35 games in which they hadn't allowed more than 24 points. You couldn't expect them to hold that potent Rams offense under 24.
McNabb led the Eagles to 24 points but the St. Louis Rams scored 29.
I believe you have to have high powered weapons in a championship game unless you have a defense with a dominating defensive line. Blitzing doesn't work in championship games.
You can't effectively stop Tom Brady with blitzes. You have to stop him with great secondary coverage but more importantly a dominating front four.
Only a great pass rush can stop any passing game.
It's very difficult to stop a passing game since the league changed the rules after the Patriots held the Rams receivers in the Super Bowl. You have to rely on your guys upfront to get to quarterback against explosive offenses.
On the offensive side, I believe you need weapons to win championships.
The two times Warner has beaten the Eagles, each time he has had two Pro Bowl receivers to throw the ball to. In one game, Warner had Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, in the second game he had Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.
I believe if you furnish a quarterback with that type of talent, then you should be able to require a championship out of him.
He should allow the team to outscore the opponent. You can't expect that with receivers like Freddie Mitchell, Todd Pinkston, Charles Johnson and Torrance Small.
Like 2004, the Eagles have again put together a quality group of weapons.
The youngsters are going to have to grow up fast, but you can score a lot of points in a championship game with a healthy Brian Westbrook, DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant, Brent Celek, LeSean McCoy and Cornelius Ingram.
