Didn't the Eagles use to throw this party?

Now they're not even invited.

The NFL is down to its final four, a level the Eagles recently reached four times in a row, hosting it the last three times. It was arguably the best stretch of football in franchise history, and folks around this city got used to it. Nothing last forever, of course, but the crazy part of this whole thing is that it didn't have to be over.

If the Eagles had won one more game, they could be one step from the Super Bowl right now, with the Patriots rooting hard against them.

Among the Birds' eight losses were four in which many impartial observers walked away believing that they were the better football team, overall. Included in those four bitter defeats were the season opener in Green Bay, where two muffed punts led to 10 of the Packers' 13 points, and the Eagles' home game with the Giants, where red zone foibles and David Akers' valiant but doomed 57-yard field goal attempt sank them. Given the fact that Philadelphia was actually much better on the road -- the Birds won five of their last six away, the lone loss being at New England -- it's easy to envision a deep playoff run, even if they had barely squeaked into the postseason field.

But it's all pie in the sky now. Enjoy the conference championship games.