Shhh! Not the "P" Word

For a team that has been out of the postseason since 1997, the Philadelphia Eagles are not exactly sure how they should respond to an important game with playoff implications.

So, they`ll just do what they`ve done all year: stay loose. "That`s all you can do," said defensive end Hugh Douglas. "You can`t start looking ahead, or looking at the scoreboard or saying, `What if?` because if you do that you`ll miss out on what you need to get done. I don`t think we`re good enough to look past anybody. I don`t think, in these days in the NFL, any team can do that. Anybody can beat anybody."

The Eagles are 7-4 heading into Sunday`s game at Veterans Stadium against the Arizona Cardinals. The Eagles are favored but for a team that was 5-11 last season, 3-13 the year before and 6-9-1 in 1997, there are no sure things. All the Eagles will say is that being where they are now is a whole lot better than where they were a year ago, when they carried a 3-8 record into their 12th game of the year.

"The guys are bouncing around a little bit more than we were last year," said quarterback Donovan McNabb. "You can see the anticipation of just waiting for that week`s game. I think as the weeks went by after winning a couple of games, you can see the guys are hungrier and more determined. The motivation is definitely there to just go out and continue to win. "Last year around this time, we really didn`t know what to expect. Now that we have seven wins, we are hungry and determined to get number eight."

A win over Arizona would put the Eagles in excellent shape to gain the team`s first playoff berth since 1996. They still have a road game at Washington ahead, and then a home game against the Tennessee Titans before finishing the season against Cleveland and Cincinnati, both sub-.500 clubs.

"I`ve been around long enough to know what happens if you look past one Sunday to the next," said running back/kick returner Brian Mitchell. "What happens is that you lose that game. We understand that a loss would be a big blow to what we`re trying to do this year. We are focused in on the Cardinals." (Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: AP