Jacksonville is accustomed to preparing for Hurricanes, but the city will see nothing like the arrival of Philadelphia Eagles fans for Super Bowl XXXIX. These fans are the closest that I have ever seen to English soccer fans and they will take over Jacksonville and its surrounding communities by next weekend. They will mortgage their homes, sell their furniture and lie to their employers in the hopes of seeing their beloved Eagles play for the ultimate championship in team sports. Philadelphia fans now have the freedom to go on the greatest road trip of their lives and show the country how they got their reputation as “hardcore” fans.  

The better team won Sunday when Philadelphia beat Atlanta 27-10, and the Eagles deserve to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. They haven't won an NFL title since 1960. Hall-of-Fame player Chuck Bednarik would be proud of this team because it never takes a play off, fights hard in the trenches and has a true competitor at quarterback. Donovan McNabb is 60 minutes away from going down in history as a great quarterback who overcame tremendous adversity and failure, but never lost focus on the ultimate goal of winning a championship. He dominated Atlanta by throwing for 180 yards and two touchdowns, ran for another 32 yards and didn’t turn the ball over while playing in freezing weather.

Andy Reid finally will get the respect that he deserves as a head coach.  He deserves a lot of credit for calling an aggressive game and making sure his team didn't let the pressure get to it. He knew his offense has the ability to make the big play and wanted to keep the pressure on Atlanta’s defense.

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This Eagles team obviously was better than the ones that lost three NFC championship games in a row because it had better overall depth to go along with Terrell Owens and Brian Westbrook, who are two of the best offensive players in the game. Owens should be ready to play in the Super Bowl and Westbrook played a fantastic NFC championship game by rushing for 96 yards on 16 carries and catching five passes for 39 yards. He is a complete player who can move the chains on third down and also make a special play down field as a receiver. The Eagles needed several players to step up because Owens watched on the sideline. Chad Lewis played the game of his life as he caught two touchdown passes and proved to be the extra standout player that McNabb needed to win the game.

Atlanta should be proud of everything it accomplished this season, but it had nothing in the tank when the second half began and couldn't count on Michael Vick to make plays with his arm with the game on the line. Vick is a great broken-play quarterback, but has a long way to go before he is respected as a complete quarterback who can keep opposing defensives honest by converting third-down plays with his arm. The Eagles did a great job keeping Vick in the pocket while also covering the Falcon receivers downfield as he tried to scramble.

I was surprised that offensive coordinator Greg Knapp didn't ask Vick to run with more aggression in the second half while the game was still in reach. When Vick operates out of the shotgun formation, he tends to drop back 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage before he delivers a pass. This turns a typical third-down passing play of 7 yards into a 17-yard attempt into the Eagles secondary. Philly has too many playmakers in its secondary for Atlanta to think that it could make a big play in front of Brian Dawkins with the game on the line. Also give linebacker Jeremiah Trotter credit for once again blowing up the line of scrimmage as he wreaked havoc for Warrick Dunn (59 yards rushing) and T.J. Duckett (14 yards), who could never get on track.

The Eagles were clearly the best team in the NFC all season long and they will be a tough team to beat in the Super Bowl. Most of the pressure is off this organization as it heads to Jacksonville. The Eagles will be as confident and cocky as any team we have seen in recent years at media day. Many fans can relate to the plight of the Eagles fans who have suffered almost as much as the Boston Red Sox fans heading into the ALCS against the Yankees. That group of "idiots" stayed focused and ended up sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. The term "idiot" in Philadelphia is often used to describe the drunken Eagles fan that gets incarcerated by the end of the third quarter with a blood-alcohol content that could knock out an elephant.

Watch out, Jacksonville! And get ready to see the most intense fan base that has ever walked the streets of your fine city.  They are on a mission to win the Super Bowl or at least party like they don't expect to lose.