The Joy Of Eagles Being 3-1; The Agony Of Hearing About It

The loss in San Francisco was in the distant past. The Eagles, at 3-1 at the quarter point of this 2014 season, are in first place in the NFC East. Despite all of these injuries and even with some uneven play, particularly from the offense, the Eagles are on pace to win 12 games.

So the excitement on this Wednesday was building for Sunday's game against St. Louis. Can't wait!!! Let's roll!!!

And then I went on my Twitter account. And here is what I saw ...

From @JohnRyan2357: "Thoughts on the horrible play by Foles so far?"

From @ScottValletti: "Riley Cooper has been AWFUL this year"

From @mcg222: "Carroll should start over Williams and until Williams has a good game he needs to keep his mouth shut."

From @Eagles_Fan: "Upgrade OL by signing Incognito .. team is still too stubborn."

Time for a walk for me. One of the reasons I gave up listening to sports radio so many years ago - I admit I listen just a little bit more now than I did years ago - was the way I felt after hearing the negativity. It just bummed me out. After working all day around the team, among men who process quickly from a game on Sunday - literally, it's hard to remember what happened on Sunday for coaches and players because they've moved on to the next week's challenge by Monday at Noon - and then driving home and listening to talk radio, I just didn't handle it well.

The years have passed. The Eagles have had mostly ups in the years Jeffrey Lurie has owned the team, but there have been a few down seasons and there has yet to be the one moment we all yearn to feel. And through it all, the fans have been as vocal as ever and as hungry as ever and as supportive as ever. The passion is unrivaled.

And when I talk to players who come here from other cities, they praise how tuned in the fans are and how, in good times and in not-so-good times, the fans let you know how they feel. In many other cities, when the home team is struggling, the fans don't show up to games and don't live the game 24/7. Here, there is never an off day for an Eagles fan.

With that said, the Eagles are 3-1 and they are tied with Dallas atop the NFC East. The first month of the season featured four edge-of-your-seat games that were, for the most part, extremely entertaining. The Eagles are still not close to where they want to be as a complete football team. There has been too much inconsistency. The injury bug has been damaging.

The hope is that the Eagles can hang in there and win games and fight and scrape and be in a good position in November and December when center Jason Kelce and left guard Evan Mathis are healthy and the offense peaks down the stretch of the season.

We'll see. The journey along the way is going to be fascinating, and not particularly easy, for all of us. I know how the fans feel, because in many ways I feel the same. I grew up a huge fan and have been here since 1987 covering the team, a member of the organization since 1997. I know how you feel because I'm one of you.

The truth is, everyone here has the same passion for the Eagles. The way players and coaches and the administration expresses itself is, of course, far less knee-jerk and more level headed. But we all want the same thing, and we all feel the pain after a loss and the incredible excitement of achievement after a win.

So, keep it coming. Express yourselves! The fun of being a fan is having the freedom to say what you want to say, and to know that somebody is listening.