The Eagles seemed content with a moral victory and anybody brave enough beforehand to take Philly and the spread — 22 points, one of the largest lines in NFL history — had to be downright ecstatic.
But all that happy talk late Sunday about how the Eagles had handed the rest of the league a "blueprint" for how to beat the Patriots was just that: talk. Seriously, who's kidding whom?
Philadelphia did throw a scare into New England before falling 31-28, no doubt about that. But so did the Colts, who are much better and were just as well-prepared, and wound up on the same short end of the score.