FOX: TROY RADIO: Is Eagles' title window closing?

[bubba9497]

TROY RADIO: Is Eagles' title window closing?

http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=2070584

The following are quotes from Troy Aikman on his nationally syndicated radio show, which airs every Thursday at 5 p.m. ET on Sporting News Radio.

Aikman on if players who lost championship games will watch this year's Super Bowl:

Some of these players (who lost the championship game) will be going down to Houston and it will be very difficult for them to get excited about the festivities that are going on because they'll feel that they missed out on the opportunity to be playing in the Super Bowl. It will be very hard for those players and coaches to watch the Super Bowl this year.

People don't understand, as excited as teams get about getting into the playoffs and as disappointed, let's say, the Rams were getting beat two weeks ago, the further you get in the playoffs, the more devastating the loss is. As excited as these teams are to get to the Super Bowl, unless you win it all, it is a big let down when you finally realize that your season is over.

Aikman on if the Eagles are still a team that's a Super Bowl contender or if they are a team that has to stop an erosion:

I think they are still a Super Bowl contender. I know it's a popular phrase to say, 'is the window of opportunity closing?' I don't know if you can say that in today's game. I know that back when I was playing, I would make reference to our own football team saying that our own window of opportunity was closing but that was because our key guys were myself, Emmitt, Michael, Deion, Charles Haley and Darren Woodsen and we knew that we would be together throughout our careers.

At some point we knew that our careers weren't going to go on, so that's why our window of opportunity was closing. In today's game, you really don't know what players are going to be with you from one season to the next. So rather than say, is the Philadelphia Eagles' window of opportunity closing, I just think they failed to capitalize on the opportunities that they've had.

They've made good decisions with personnel over the years. They have not gotten to where they have made emotional decisions whether it was Jeremiah Trotter two years ago, last year it was Hugh Douglas, now this year they've got a number of decisions they need to make on free agents, Duce Staley, Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent and as we've seen with this club in the past, they are going to make decisions on personnel that they feel can help them in the future. They are not going to make decisions based on what these players have done for them in the past. It's easier to make those tough decisions when you have not won an NFC Championship game and more importantly when you have not won a Super Bowl.

I was curious what would happen with these players if Philadelphia had gone on to beat Carolina and win a Super Bowl, then I think it becomes a lot harder for an organization not to make emotional decisions because then you look at those players in an entirely different light, you see them as guys who helped you win a world championship. I think it's much easier to make changes when a team hasn't gone all the way and won a Super Bowl.

Aikman on Terrell Owens and if he'd be a fit in Philadelphia:

I don't think Terrell Owens is a fit in Philadelphia. I think it will be interesting to see where he lands, if he ends up back in San Francisco or what team is going to take a chance on him. I say take a chance, because you just don't know how Terrell Owens is going to react.

We've seen how he's reacted in San Francisco when things haven't gone well for him there. I know for a fact there are a lot of clubs who won't want that kind of player in their locker room. I do believe that Terrell Owens is going to have to make some adjustments and sometimes change is good for players and works out for the positive. Based on what I know of Andy Reid and what he looks for in players, based on what Terrell Owens has shown in San Francisco, I would not think that is a good fit.

Aikman on bye week before Super Bowl:

No question, the bye week was extremely helpful in preparing for the Super Bowl. I know fans would love for the game to take place this week. But you've got to realize, the bye week allows for a lot of the build-up, for the media to handle a lot of the interviews they'd like to get and from the players and coaches perspectives it allows them to handle a lot of the interviews and do the one-on-one interviews and media requests and handle the ticket requests and the hotel reservations for their families. It's a very, very busy time for both of these organizations and to try to accommodate all the needs and requests, it's hard to do when you don't have the bye week.

I believe, as a player, having been through both situations, they would get to Houston, if they didn't have the bye week, they'd be there today, they'd be getting settled in and before they know it, the game is upon them and I just don't think you have enough time to prepare without the bye week. I am happy to see the NFL is going back to the bye week for the foreseeable future. That's the way it should be because otherwise, I think it's an injustice to the teams that are in it.

Aikman on if experience plays a role in playing in the Super Bowl:

I think experience is over rated when you get into the playoffs and is especially overrated when you get to the Super Bowl. I know when I was playing and going to my third Super Bowl, there were a number of guys on the team going to their third Super Bowl as well. We played in two Super Bowl games, you cannot play in enough Super Bowl games.

John Elway didn't get to enough Super Bowl games to get to where he was used to playing because of the emotions and the adrenaline and the magnitude of that game. If that were true, then you could say after two games a rookie in his first season is a veteran. I don't look at playoff experience when getting ready for the Super Bowl and I don't think that Carolina not having many players who have experienced the Super Bowl will be a factor at all.

Aikman on what makes New England such a great football team:

They are well coached. They don't beat themselves. Think back to this season and all the close games they were in, even the Indianapolis game earlier in the season, they win that game on the last play, had they lost that game, then they were playing that championship game in Indianapolis and not New England. When you are playing in those close games, it comes down to not beating yourself, not turning the ball over and being disciplined and that's what they've done.

Are they talented? Absolutely, they're talented. But we've seen they've lost a number of players, yet they continue to win football games. It's because they are a team that believes in themselves, they don't make stupid mistakes and they are well coached and that's what we've come to expect from a Bill Belichick coached team.

Aikman on the Carolina Panthers and what they do so well (outside of running the ball with Stephen Davis):

They play pretty good defense. Their defense has gotten better. Their defensive front has gotten a lot of attention and rightfully so and will continue to get a lot of attention. (they are) probably the best front four in football right now. Their front seven with their linebackers is solid. Their defensive secondary is the one that has been maligned all season long and considered the weak spot, but they have really improved toward the end of the season and especially in the playoffs. They are playing great football.

And Jake Delhomme, I still think is a guy who goes unmentioned entirely too much. He only had to throw 14 passes in the championship game against the Eagles, which is amazing to me and that's because of the turnovers that Philadelphia had. He's going to have to do more in this Super Bowl game in order to win it but as we've seen from him, he's done it. Every time he's been called on to lead this football team back, he's been able to do it and there are no real weaknesses on this team. Even if you consider the kicking game. Todd Sauerbrun is a Pro Bowl punter and John Kasay is an excellent kicker.

It's a solid football team that's still people refuse to acknowledge what they've accomplished and that they are the best team in the NFC. I really believe that they can beat New England. Now I don't know that they will, but I do think it will be a heck of a ball game and a lot closer than people think.

[SPare]

Could you imagine Philly without Taylor and/ or Vincent? If those are the guys that they're having to choose between this year in their free agent survivor pool, they could be in a world of hurt next year, particularly with the passing capabilities of the Cowboys (who will have a new QB) and even the skins (in all likelihood).