Does October mean anything?

Finally - I'm back from the bye! Thanks, I know you missed me..

As we return, the Eagles are embarking on a weird October; if things go smoothly, they'll spend most of the month under the radar, a pretty unusual occurrence for this team. With the Phillies (hopefully) launching in to a long post-season run, they'll get plenty of attention, taking ink (figuratively) away from the Eagles.

And then there's the competition - Tampa Bay, Oakland and Washington. This stretch rivals Penn State's cupcake start to the season; rarely does an NFL team get to play three dogs like this. And what that means is that, while the Eagles have been extremely interesting off the field so far this season, what happens on the field this coming month will be largely devoid of drama.

That doesn't mean talk show geniuses won't try to invent some drama. And it doesn't mean that what happens over the next three weeks doesn't set the course for the rest of the season.

But the only goal of the first half of the NFL season is to not fall out of contention - teams can be eliminated in the first two months, but no one wins a championship in the first two months. Given their schedule and their current 2-1 record, it is almost impossible for the Eagles to fall out of contention. I expect them to be 5-1 on Halloween, and anything less will be disappointing, but it really won't mean anything.

That's not to say it won't be very interesting watching Andy Reid work Vick into the offense without ticking off McNabb, seeing if Jeremiah Trotter has anything left or is simply the second coming of Levon Kirkland, and wondering if Winston Justice will continue to get the job done.

But regardless of how those questions are answered, the answers can change before the stretch run. This is all preamble.

The real fun begins at 4 p.m.on November 1. That's when the Giants (likely undefeated) come to the Linc. That game will mean a little something.