The Eagles can now claim something that no other NFC team has ever been able to say.

The only thing that stands between them and the Super Bowl is the Arizona Cardinals.

That’s right, those guys from the desert are treading on new turf. The Cardinals, either the Phoenix version or their predecessor, the long-suffering St. Louis Cardinals, have ever played in the NFC Championship game.

The same certainly cannot be said for Andy Reid’s Eagles.

Reid has now been the boss of the Birds for 10 years. After struggling the first two seasons, Reid turned the team around dramatically and has been a perennial visitor to the playoffs.

The fact is that in the last eight years, the Eagles will have played in the NFC title game five times.

Not a bad record.

Last week I wrote that all would be forgotten if Reid and his right-hand man, quarterback Donovan McNabb, beat the New York Giants and advanced to the championship game. Their season, during which they have struggled mightily at times, including one point where they sat at a thoroughly mediocre 5-5-1, would then be deemed a success.

But that was before the Cardinals did the unthinkable, before they flew east and stood the oddsmakers on their head by defeating the heavily favored Carolina Panthers.

That changes everything. The Eagles should beat the Cardinals. It’s that simple. They are favored by three points. It’s the first time in anyone’s memory a road team has been favored in the NFC title game.

The Eagles torched the Cardinals back on Thansgiving night, harassing Kurt Warner into a miserable night. It was in fact that game that provided the springboard to the Eagles turnaround. Just a few days before, McNabb had been benched at halftime as the Eagles hit bottom in a dreadful effort against the Ravens.

They should emerge victorious in this date in the desert. Do so and everything at that point will be gravy. They will face a stiff test in the Super Bowl against either AFC opponent, the Ravens or Steelers. They fell flat on their face earlier this year against Baltimore, but had one of the early season high points in dominating Pittsburgh.

Go to Phoenix, however, and come up empty, losing as they have done in three of those other NFC title games, and all the familiar questions will resurface.

Is it fair? Not really. Reid and the Eagles for the most part have achieved a standard of excellence. A gold standard? Not exactly. But one a lot of teams – and their fans – would love to have.

But it doesn’t change the fact that the Eagles should win on Sunday.

Should. Where have we heard that before?