Here we are midway through a football season that was predicted to be long on long-term growth for the Eagles and ultimately short on short-term payoff, but suddenly time has compressed like an accordion and there is a lingering note of the unexpected in the air as October gives way to November.
How unexpected? Well, that remains to be seen, but if the next two months are as surprisingly successful as the first two, you can hang your dream as high as you like. Maybe not by much, but stranger things have happened in the NFL than a 7-9 team catching a breeze that sails them well beyond the course outsiders charted for it.