I said this on Countdown to Kickoff before Sunday's game with Tampa Bay, but after attending last night's AdrenalineFest at the Spectrum (that's the Bruce Springsteen concert for those who weren't there), I'm saying it again - the Eagles are in a Born to Run month.
The concept comes from the great Mike Lombardi (NFL guru and crazy Springsteen fanatic). Mike points out that even though Bruce has played his biggest hit well over 5,000 times in the last 35 years, he still plays it every night with everything he's got. He never half-asses Born to Run. He pours every little bit of his heart, soul, body and talent into it. Every night. That is to say, he comes to play. As he bellowed into the mike last night - "the E Street Band has come to keep our solemn vow to ROCK THE HOUSE."
(My two word review of last night's concert at The Spectrum: Hol-ee Shit!
My slightly longer review: It was flabbergastingly good. I have no idea how a group of 12 people pours that much talent, adrenaline, cohesiveness and fun into three hours. Even with 18,000 back-up singers who provide a ton of support and know every note, it's purely amazing. I've seen Springsteen about a dozen times, and this was the best. The venue, the band, the crowd. The energy, the music, the joy. The band played the Born to Run album start to finish, and it was just astonishing. Jungleland was the most emotional thing I've ever seen at a concert. I looked around during Clarence's sax solo at the middle-aged crowd and it was like they were all lost in prayer, remembering the great moment in their teenage life when they first heard these sounds, reflecting on how Springsteen's music literally changed the course of their lives. There were a lot of tears in eyes when they finished. It took everybody - the band and the crowd - about three songs to pull themselves back together. And then it was full throttle again. Whew.
Now back to the National Football League.)
The Eagles are in the Wednesday-night-in-Des-Moines part of their schedule. This month they've got the Buccaneers, Raiders and Redskins. Three flavors of yuck. It'd be relatively easy to take a this-is-good-enough-to-win approach to this month's slate of games and still head into November 5-1. The Eagles do not have to be great to win these games. But make no mistake
- this is when set themselves up for that last chance power drive. This is the month when they will set their course, even if it isn't apparent to us outside observers.What we know about the Eagles so far this season is that they have tons of talent and potential.
But will they become great? Will they keep pushing and pushing and pushing? Will they settle for good, or will they collectively realize that good is the enemy of great, and take the risks and do the work to reach a different level? Will they hold each other accountable and boost each other up? Will they commit?
When you go to a Springsteen show, it's hard to take your eyes off Bruce. But last night, as the original E-Streeters rumbled through the Born to Run album, I couldn't help but notice Nils Lofgren. He's probably the best musician in the band (arguable), but he wasn't with them when they recorded the Born to Run masterpiece. So last night, for about 45 minutes, Lofgren stood near the back of the stage, strumming a little but really nothing more than a bit player.
After Jungleland, with everybody in a bit of a fog, the show needed a spark. Lofgren stepped up with a blistering solo on Because the Night, the crowd worked back to a frenzy, and from then on it was a full out sprint. For an hour.
That's part of being a team too. Stepping back, stepping up. So when the Bucs doubleteam DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin steps up. Some are trying to create drama around Jackson's low output day, but that's just silliness.
That's how a team works - trusting each other, catching each other when they stumble, sacrificing for each other.
It's all just part of a team working on a dream.
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