By Matt Szczypiorski, Sports Talk Philly Contributing Writer 
Eagles vs. Patriots. Those three words are enough to stir up the emotions of any Eagles fan. You know exactly where you were, who you were with and how long you cried tears of joy the last time these two teams played.
While this Sunday’s edition of Eagles-Pats doesn’t hold nearly the same weight of the last match-up, it is a very important game for the Birds.
The Eagles head into Sunday on a two-game winning streak off their bye in the thick of the playoff race. Yet, it doesn’t feel like it. Why?
To me, it’s a combination of reasons. One would be that with a 5-4 record, this team is not where we anticipated they would be in the beginning of the season. Another would be the excessive amount of injuries to key players this team has suffered (DeSean Jackson, Nigel Bradham, Jason Peters, Alshon Jeffery).
The final, but most significant reason, at least in my opinion, is that even with all of those factors, the Eagles performances have been quite, dare I say, underwhelming. They are a 5-4 team that could easily be 7-2 if their receivers could catch the football. They’ve had some extremely disappointing losses coupled with some wins that hardly felt like wins considering the way they played.
I know, a win is a win. But if this team expects to be competing for a playoff spot, I’m going to need to see some more convincing performances from the entirety of the team. Not only that, but it needs to be more consistent. It’s time for the Birds to make a run.
Injury Report: Patriots at Eagles
