Three weeks ago, the Detroit Lions were on their way to victory at Ford Field on Monday Night Football. The Lions hadn’t started 5-0 in 55 years. When the game clock hit triple zero, the scoreboard read 24-13 – let’s celebrate Lions fans. On the road to the big win however, there was a significant loss.

During the course of the game, Detroit’s shifty starting running back, Jahvid Best, sustained his second concussion this season. Best’s college career at Cal Berkeley was cut short by concussion issues. This loaded concussion history doesn’t bode well for Best’s future, not only for this season, but for the rest of his potential career in the NFL. After the Monday night game, Best was thought to be out at least a month if not more, and this missing horsepower in Detroit’s 5-0 engine left them with a dilemma.

Most teams that taste a little bit of the winning nectar after extended periods of futility tend to panic when key injuries occur during their most proximate run of success. Instead of promoting within the ranks, they go out and usually give another organization way too much for what is only a best-guess attempt at a replacement.

Such is true even this season with the Oakland Raiders. After quarterback Jason Campbell went down with a separated shoulder, Oakland, by necessity more than anything else, due to the ineffectiveness of backup Kyle Boller, traded potentially two first round picks to the Cincinnatti Bengals for the services of holdout veteran quarterback Carson Palmer.

Along these same lines, the Lions sought to plug-in a running back of Best’s big play ability by offering their backup running back Jerome Harrison to Philadelphia. In exchange they reached for Eagles’ veteran running back Ronnie Brown, who has been a bell-cow back in years past, but recently has seen limited duty with the Eagles behind LeSean McCoy, who is as close to an every-down back as there is in the “running back by committee” NFL of today. The swap seemed to make a certain amount of sense for both teams – a win/win.

Trades in the NFL always bar a physical exam before they are made final, and these tests are usually the last to be administered before the transaction is completed. What is undoubtedly the most thorough physical exam known to man due to the investment being made, the professional team-sports “trade physical” includes everything one can think of, including x-rays and cat-scans. Upon these tests rendered for this particular trade, a brain tumor was found in Jerome Harrison’s head.

Fortunately, the tumor was discovered in what was found to be the early stages of the growth, and is considered not only treatable, but having a very high chance of not being life threatening if treated with the prudent urgency required. If it weren’t for Jahvid Best sustaining his most recent concussion and the Lions then in-turn seeking to trade Jerome Harrison for Ronnie Brown, Harrison’s tumor undoubtedly would have gone undetected for an uncertain period of time. The brain injury of one Detroit Lion running back ended up preventing potential brain damage of another – irony to say the least. It’s definitely possible that if Best wasn’t concussed, Harrison’s tumor could have grown to the point where it might have been life threatening if not terminal.

Considering the level of significance of the situation coupled with the perfect chain of events it required for the discovery of the tumor to come to fruition, it’s hard not to recognize some sort of divine intervention here – no hyperbole subscription attached. Of course describing what has transpired as some sort of religious or karmatic reward is a slippery slope, but a puzzle that so perfectly falls together in such a life-altering way should at least have the idea honestly and truthfully presented.

And for those who believe in completely random universe, when you see something almost blessed or surrealistic, it puts life in perspective for even the most rabid and diehard of a sports fan. It ends up leaving a lasting impression. It gives us perspective that transcends any “game.” It reminds us that irony can mean much, much more than simply a stale pun or a cheap joke. It reminds us that believing that everything happens for a reason might not be such a crazy idea after all.

And even if Jahvid Best never were to never take another hand-off in the NFL, he will always be able to find some level of solice in the fact that, in some weird and indescribable way, he may have very well saved his teammate’s life.

Yet, somewhere, somehow, a hoarders complex turned Eagles management insane this offseason with a spending an upward of $100 million for new talents. 

Adding Namdi Osomugha is one thing, but to continue the gluttony with Culen Jenkins, Vince Young and Ronnie Brown is another. Stack in newly-acquired Steve Smith and things get more outlandish.

The acclaimed “Dream Team” is bringing lofty expectations with its high caliber of Pro Bowl talents. In an NFC East as unpredictable as a quarter slot machine, the moves seem like a small cry for help.

This season the Eagles have set themselves up for quite a storyline—though enticing and paralyzing—automatically placing them as the most hated team in football.

They also upturned a common divisional denominator—the Redskins—who are well-known for zealous spending and are now minuscule in comparison to the Eagles flaunt of cash.

But, why now ?

 Considering that the best they ever got the future Hall of Famer Donovan McNabb was an unhappy Terrel Owens and injury prone Brian Westbrook, proposes a larger question that may be rumbling quietly beneath the surface.

Is Mike Vick for real? Signing the 31-year-old to a one-year franchise tag answers that as “no”.

What then can we make of this current spending spree that has catapulted the one-time prudent Eagles toward Miami Heat status?

You got me.

I am certain the impending embroilment between Vick, and an undervalued Vince Young is a storyline the Eagles management is interested in. The former Longhorn is 30-17 as a starter, and like Vick, can win games with his feet.

But more compelling will be what Vick can do this season with a fattened offense. As nice as he looked as a pocket passer all last year, he now will be forced to do so even more with Ronnie Brown in the back field—a talented player able to slot out and run with efficiency.

With three flankers in DeSean Jackson, Steve Smith and Jeremy Maclin, can Vick continue in a pass-first offense molded around a need for a governing slice and dice-wheeler dealer?

He is not a Brady, Manning or Brees—but a guy who at times still showed signs last year he is uncomfortable under pressure in the pocket, resulting in an injury that cost him two weeks, the Eagles a first-round bye and their loss to the Packers in the playoffs.

Two losses in a row from the man and four turnovers warrants team concerns. But it also, considering the nature of pro athletics, could be water under the bridge with an early rise this year.

Last night’s line: 13-6 W over Baltimore, 4-6, 74 yards and a touchdown says that is a fair possibility. We’ll have to wait and see whether or not this “Dream Team” will crumble in LeFraud fashion or flourish in a hoarder’s heap.