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Four months have passed almost to the day, and it's still a sore topic. Ever had the wind knocked out of you? I was that kind of hurt, and given my experiences as a fan in Philadelphia, I should've seen this coming. It always happens this way. But I was convinced it was our year, no one was going to laugh at us anymore, the jokes were on the critics, and no more nights on suicide-watch because we were going to party 'til the sun came up and went down again.

Then defeat stepped in and reminded me of a pain I can't erase. I cried myself to sleep the night they lost to the Raiders in Super Bowl XV and as a heartbroken 8-year-old, I swore my allegiance to the Philadelphia Eagles for better or for worse. And trust me, it's been on hell of a marriage. I'm so emotionally involved I can't see myself walking out of it. Through every pathetic game under Marion Campbell, through the renaissance that came to be known as "Buddy Ball," and the buffoonery of Rich Kotite, it's been one of those relationships where you wonder why you stick around.

I remember driving around for two hours after Ray Rhodes' Eagles fumbled away the winning-field-goal-attempt away on a Monday night in Dallas so what reason did I have to believe in Andy Reid's "plan?" These are the Eagles, where every proposed answer leaves a question and the questions seem to go unanswered. Oh yeah, Super Bowl dreams die there, too. Some seasons sooner than others.

These are those same Eagles that have played in the last two NFC Championships and given its fans some of the best football they've seen since the Randall Cunningham era. Last year with homefield-advantage in the playoffs and a seemingly psychological edge over their opponent, it seemed as if the Eagles were ready to bury the decades of frustration and disappointment and finally get back to and possibly win the Super Bowl. But, once again, the Eagles and their faithful were denied that chance. In the last football game at Veterans Stadium, the Eagles were humbled by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-10. As it ended, so did the Eagle careers of Hugh Douglas, Sean Barber, Brian Mitchell, and Sean Landeta, integral parts of Andy Reid's success and locker room leadership.

Most notably, the departures of Douglas and Mitchell were hard to understand because despite being in their 30s, both were still effective and playing at a fairly high-level. What angered me about Mitchell's departure was the fact that if he was resigned for $1 more than what he was making, it would cost $750,000 against the salary cap; to me, it looked cheap to a team that is around $13 million dollars over the cap. I thought that Sean Barber would be re-signed due to his production and lack of depth at the position.

Coach Andy Reid's personnel moves in the past two seasons have prompted many to question his decision-making as a GM. After releasing Pro Bowl middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, the 11th-hour signing of Levon Kirkland last year let us know that his anointing of Barry Gardner as Trotter's replacement was based purely on the emotion of a exhausting, drawn-out contract squabble.

Kirkland shined at times, but more often than not, he was caught out of position rendering him useless in plays. Gardner struggled with injuries and inconsistency, his inability to cover and help against the run proved to be his ticket out of town. A 73-yard pass play from Brad Johnson to Joe Jurevicious over the middle of the Eagles' defense in the NFC Championship Game exploited the Eagles' weakness at middle linebacker and changed the complexion of a 27-10 Tampa Bay victory. It looked to me that the game plan was ditched after the Eagles first scored two minutes into the game. Maybe he expected Tampa Bay to revert back to the sub-40-degree Buccaneers when all it did was tick them off.

Nothing was done to try and throw the Bucs off, no sense of urgency, and seemingly no game plan -- it was like once the Bucs scored, the Eagles forgot how to handle them. It was like Brad Johnson and Donovan McNabb played role reversal and one imitated the other. Not that Johnson was mobile, but he picked the Eagles apart and McNabb seemed to be hampered by his foot injury, letting me know that he was not completely 100%.

Tampa Bay completely stifled the Eagles offense by taking away the run and forcing McNabb to beat them with his arm. That's a tall order when you're fresh off a broken ankle facing the NFL's best pass-defense. The most frustrating aspect of the entire game was the defensive play-calling. There was no hint of a blitz in the first-half when it should've been used to set the tone of the game. They had a better chance of doing it defensively than offensively because McNabb was still trying to feel his way back into a rhythm after the injury. But the defense has been the trump card for them all season. Why defensive cordinator Jim Johnson abandoned the blitz packages is beyond me.

What the Eagles now face is a season of possible implosion if this team does not make the Super Bowl. With the loss of the aforementioned vets, all fingers will point to the front-office, most notably coach/GM Andy Reid who really didn't feel the sting of Trotter's loss until the NFC Championship. The signing of Brian Dawkins, in my opinion, would not have been done this soon had Douglas been re-signed. This was a great relief for fans because Dawkins will be 29 and was entering the final season of his contract.

Since the current front-office does not look highly upon re-signing players near or over 30, there may be hope for cornerbacks Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent who are in that close to or over 30 range, but combine to be the best duo in the league. I don't think one of them will be re-signed, but if last year's first-round pick, corner Lito Shepard, develops to the level of third-round pick, Sheldon Brown, neither may be re-signed. However, I believe Bobby Taylor will be here in 2004. But with rookie Jerome McDougle replacing Douglas and the unknown status of Derrick Burgess coupled with the wide-open competition on special teams for return men could get the Eagles off to a slow start, something they cannot afford.