Coverage on Eagles loss to Dolphins

I am from Philadelphia, and the Eagles are important to me, as they are too many Philadelphians. It's a way to bond with my grandfather, a conversation starter with friends, and you get to live through another's success and failures. It's an escape in the latter regard, which could be viewed as pathetic, but I see it as therapeutic in many ways. I think that people need to be a part of something greater than ourselves. A moment of collective joy is stronger than that of any individual accomplishment, or solitary feeling. It's a big reason why people are drawn to the community around religion, which has been dying off, especially in the last 200 years due to advancements in and popularization of science. So, now our chapel is the Lincoln Financial Field. When we flick on the game, we forget about ourselves, and all the worries and problems that come with it, and tap into the shared human experience of Eagles football. This may be pretentious, after all it is just football, the game that seems to have been started for children, but seeing the celebration that commenced after the Eagles Super Bowl win leads me to believe otherwise. The city was packed with Eagles fans (about 700,000) celebrating without limit, and all feeling alive, together.

So, the Eagles loss to the Dolphins this week mattered. When the Eagles lose, Philly loses, as ridiculous as that may sound. There is an infectious energy that comes from the Eagles playing well. It rubs off a little hope, something that is hard to capture nowadays. We all came into the season with high expectations, as we do most years, but to a greater extent due to our recent success. It's been a roller coster. Some weeks have been filled with optimism with headlines about the Eagles returning to form. There have been big wins this years. But, more so, there have been crushing losses, and a fear of the franchise slowly climbing into the backseat. 

The Eagles Dolphins game was suspected to be a blow out. The Eagles offense had been painful to watch in weeks prior, but surely they would beat a Dolphins team that was projected to go 0-16 earlier in the season. Not so, the Eagles, who started the game looking confident and leading 28-14 going into the 3rd quarter, let the Dolphins come back and beat them 37-31. The coverage on this has been doom and gloom. Delaware Online had an article quoting upset players, sharing the frustration, and refuting optimism for the Eagles future. The headline pronounces that the Eagles team is "falling apart". However, The Eagles are still very much alive for the playoff race, being only one game behind NFC East leaders the Dallas Cowboys. They aren't being given the benefit of the doubt after this loss, and it's understandable. Though, something that comes to mind about Eagles coverage is recency bias. When we lose, we zoom in on that specific game, and likewise with Wins. After a big win the future is great, after a big loss they usually see an unsuccessful season ahead. The arc of the season is blurry coming off a recent game, and we easily forget the strength's and weakness we have showed in the past. If the Eagles win the next three games, you probably will hear about a dark horse super bowl run. This is the volatility of sports coverage.