I know we’re supposed to pretend that this final win is bittersweet (since the Eagles aren’t going to the playoffs and will finish last in the NFC East), but whatever. It was still a real football game with real NFL players, and thanks to the cruelty of player contracts in the NFL, guys will play hard (with the possible exception of guys who’ve signed contracts in the past 18 months) even if the playoffs aren’t on the line.

And I certainly enjoyed it. This is my favorite TV show, and it brings me much delight when the good guys win. My quick hits from the game today:1. B-West earns his baubles, returns to bench to bask in collective man crush of Philadelphia region.  Were it not for a suddenly feisty LaDanian Tomlinson, I think it would be easy to claim that Westbrook was the best back in the league.  No joke.  He certainly had the best season of any Eagles running back, but let’s hope that this isn’t his personal best season ever (if only because we’d like at least one more sweet one like this).

2. More young linebackers show up for work.  Last week we were all fired up about Stewart Bradley.  This week it’s all about Akeem Jordan (though Bradley was good again as well).  Do mine eyes deceive me, or do the Eagles suddenly have a fair amount of young talent at linebacker? 

3.  But before we get too tuned up about the defense, let us not forget that the Bills had a rookie quarterback and a rookie running back playing in the rain (and we still didn’t generate a turnover).  Sure, it’s cool to not allow a touchdown, but it wasn’t exactly the Patriots on the other side of the ball.  Still, I’ve got room in my heart for the Bills and their miserable and long-suffering fan base.  Philadelphia would have been burnt to the ground if the Birds had lost the Super Bowl four times in a row and gotten screwed out of the Stanley Cup on a bogus call.  We feel ya, Buffalo, we feel ya.     

4.  Sav Rocca hasn’t been missing meals.  I guess I hadn’t noticed that Sav Rocca is on the Andy Reid diet.  I guess he doesn’t have to worry about the conditioning at the punter position; I bet he’s eating the same as he was when he was playing Aussie rules, but is running about 60 percent less.  Still, it was nice to see him make a tackle.

5.  I think Celek is fine, but they need more from Avant facing the quarterback.  I actually don’t think that the receivers are completely terrible, and they mostly played well yesterday.  I wish there was a little more size in the group in general, and that might be my only concern with Celek — he looks like a player, but he’s not a beast.  In tight spaces and in the red zone, it’s nice to have a beast who can use their body to create space.  Maybe Avant?  I dunno.

Go Birds.