Philadelphia Among the Elite?

[BrudLee]

For those of you who are placing the Eagles among the elite teams of the NFL, I'd like to offer a little perspective. A preseason glance at the schedule had nearly all analysts predicting a 6-2 start for the Birds, which they are on pace to reach. Many of those same analysts had the Eagles finishing 4th in the division, in part due to a second half of the schedule that looks like this:
Nov 12 Washington 1:00pm
Nov 19 Tennessee 1:00pm
Nov 26 @Indianapolis 1:00pm
Dec 4 Carolina 8:30pm
Dec 10 @Washington 1:00pm
Dec 17 @N.Y. Giants 1:00pm
Dec 25 @Dallas 5:00pm
Dec 31 Atlanta 1:00pm

There is one game where the Eagles are the clear favorite following their bye week - hosting the Titans. They have an unprecedented three consecutive away division games. They play the Colts in Indy. They play both Carolina and Atlanta, who will both be contending for playoff spots. Philadelphia is very good, and isn't due for a fall. They are, however, due for a correction.