Gonzo: Experts not optimistic about Eagles' chances

As far as predictions about approaching seasons go, the ones that happen during NFL training camps across the country are generally about as good as undrafted free agents. Some work out. Most don't.

Ask almost any player on any team and he'll tell you they have a good squad this year and they're destined for big things. That's natural and not all that surprising.

Not long ago, when Jon Kitna was doing time in football purgatory as the quarterback of the Detroit Lions, he was asked about his team's chances. This was prior to the 2007 season. The year before, Detroit won just three games, which was about four more than most people thought possible for that crew. Still, Kitna promised the Lions would more than triple the previous season's total, win 10 games, and make the playoffs.

If only they hadn't lost seven of their last eight games and gone home early, he would have been right.

The Eagles aren't immune to a little preseason chest-puffing, either. At Flight Night, DeSean Jackson pandered to the crowd: "We want to go all the way this year," he said. "We want to go to the Super Bowl, baby. Who's with me?"

A few days earlier, up at Lehigh, the starting quarterback and the starting tight end also said the Birds are capable of making the Super Bowl. As in this season. They didn't guarantee it with Joe-Willie-like certainty. They just said it could happen.

"If I didn't believe that," Brent Celek said. "I wouldn't be here."

When asked what people will be talking about when the season is over for the Eagles, Kevin Kolb said, "hopefully a Super Bowl."

As far as the annual training-camp bloviating goes for the Birds, those remarks hardly compare to Jeffrey Lurie's "gold standard" slip or Joe Banner's "best roster in the NFL" nonsense. Jackson, Kolb, and Celek - custodians of this new era of Eagles football - were simply stating what most athletes with a healthy sense of competition might: that they want to win a championship and that they believe in their teammates. And bully for them. It certainly wasn't as absurd as Kitna's prediction. But, as they're probably well aware, there aren't too many people outside Bethlehem or the Philadelphia area willing to support their prognostication and bill the Birds as championship caliber.