Biggest Takeaways from Philadelphia Eagles' Week 7 Loss

And just like that, whatever momentum the Philadelphia Eagles had been gaining is gone. With a 27-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night, the Birds head into the bye week with their season once again at a crossroads.

The Eagles were coming off of back-to-back victories and were winners of three of their last four. Plus, if we're being honest, there's no shame in losing to this unbeaten Panthers squad on the road and on a short week, no less.

Yet it's not necessarily the fact that the Eagles lost on Sunday, but how they lost. The same mistakes that have been costing them games since Week 1 continued to show up in Week 7, and at a certain point, you have to wonder if these things are correctable.

The Eagles go into the bye with a 3-4 record, only one game back of first place in the NFC East. They have a get-well game coming on the horizon against the division rival Dallas Cowboys, who will still be without quarterback Tony Romo.

However, instead of looking at the time off as a recharging point before a big postseason run, now we have an extra week to wonder whether the Eagles can fix all of their glaring issues. It's starting to feel a lot like maybe not.

Defense Can't Do It Alone

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Last week, Philadelphia's defense was able to put the game on its shoulders in a pivotal victory over the NFC East rival New York Giants. But sooner or later, the unit needs to get more help to come from the other side of the football, as was proven in the loss to the Carolina Panthers.

Yes, the Eagles defense allowed 27 points, including touchdown drives of 72, 60 and 80 yards. However, it also gave the ball back to the offense with three turnovers forced, one drive-killing sack and limiting Carolina to two third-down conversions on nine tries.

The fact that Philly's offense only put 16 points on the board was a far larger issue. Sam Bradford and company actually ran 23 more plays than the Panthers, but they averaged only 4.3 yards per play and failed to cross the goal line on both trips inside the red zone.

Don't get it twisted, the Eagles defense did not play great, either. The unit allowed a 100-yard rusher for the first time in 18 games. When Carolina did go on long touchdown drives, those came too easily. There were just too many big plays in general.

Yet any time the offense can only muster a bunch of field goals, the defense is going to be in a tough spot. The performance on D has been carrying the Eagles and kept them in every game this season. Sooner or later, the offense has to come around, or this team isn't going anywhere.

Jordan Matthews Ineffective

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Jordan Matthews was supposed to be the Eagles' feature receiver this season, or so we thought. The second-year wideout posted an impressive rookie season in 2014, finishing with 67 receptions for 872 yards and eight touchdowns. With Jeremy Maclin out of the picture, his ascension only seemed logical.

Instead, while Matthews is on pace for higher catch and yardage totals, he's less productive. He may have 39 receptions for 398 yards, but he's only averaging 10.2 per catch—nearly three yards less than last season—while finding the end zone only once. Sunday night was his worst game yet, catching three passes for all of 14 yards.

Matthews has also developed a terrible habit of dropping seemingly everything thrown his way. To be fair, a lot of the passes that come his way are contested, although that is just part of the life of being a slot receiver. Professionals have to hold on to the football.

That is the other thing about this Matthews situation. While head coach Chip Kelly may prefer a bigger target in the slot, the fact that Matthews is still lining up there almost exclusively in his second NFL season might be an issue. There aren't enough opportunities to send him downfield, where he certainly has the size and speed to make plays.

In his current role, Matthews simply isn't really effective. He hasn't eclipsed 60 yards or scored a touchdown since Week 2. This is not what we've come to expect from a No. 1 receiver in the Eagles offense after Maclin and DeSean Jackson each posted over 80 catches and 1,300 yards the past two years.

Ryan Mathews Better Than DeMarco Murray...Again

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At what point in the season will we have a large enough sample size to determine Ryan Mathews is in fact a better running back than DeMarco Murray at this moment in time? You can say it's the offense, or Murray isn't the same player after last year's heavy usage. Whatever the case, Mathews consistently puts up numbers.

Mathews did it again on Sunday, outgaining the starter 97 to 65 on the ground despite 12 fewer touches. True, he was aided by a 63-yard touchdown run, the longest by an Eagle this season, but you just don't see Murray exploding for many huge gains like that.

For the season, Murray has now carried 88 times for 307 yards—a 3.5 average—and three touchdowns. Mathews has rushed 56 times for 342 yards—a 6.1 average—and three scores.

This isn't necessarily a case of Mathews thriving in a change-of-pace role, either. When Murray was out with an injury in Week 3, Mathews went over 100 yards in that game. He's been a workhorse back with the San Diego Chargers before, twice rushing for over 1,000 yards in a season. Mathews is a quality back.

Unfortunately, the Eagles threw a lot of money Murray's way, therefore he'll likely continue to see a lot of work even if Mathews is a clearly superior player. However they decide to rotate the backs, the fact of matter is Mathews looks better.

Sam Bradford Both Is and Is Not the Problem

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Nobody can or should try to absolve Bradford completely for the mess the Eagles are in. He's thrown far too many interceptions—tied for the league-lead now with 10. He's missed way too many open receivers. On Sunday, Bradford only averaged 4.5 yards per completion, and that wasn't even his lowest of the season.

Of course, there's no telling what his numbers would look like if his receivers weren't dropping so many catchable passes. There were no fewer than seven drops against the Panthers alone, many of which contributed to stalled drives.

This has been the case all season, by the way. For every throw Bradford has flat-out missed, there's been at least one drop. Heck, two of his interceptions are passes that hit their intended target in the hands.

From time to time, the protection hasn't held up, either. Bradford was sacked five times by the Panthers, only the second time the defense got to him more than once in a game. On some, the offensive line was straight-up beat. On others, Bradford may have held the ball a bit too long—although we know receivers have had issues getting open down the field as well.

Bradford's mechanics have been a mess at times, he's made some poor decisions and hasn't always looked comfortable in the pocket or with the offense. However, he would look a lot better if the guys in front of him would make a few more plays. It simply isn't happening.

Bye Week the Time to Fix Things

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The Eagles made it to the bye week not entirely out of the playoff hunt. With a few tweaks or handful of fixes, they can make a legitimate run in the second half.

But this is it. If the Eagles don't use this extra time to clean up a lot of the fundamental and execution errors, there's a good chance it simply isn't going to happen this season. Or, if it does, the improvement may come too late.

The players will have the week off and return to practice next Tuesday, at which point they better be recharged and bring a different outlook to work. The coaching staff better have some fresh ideas and a new perspective as well, because what this team is doing right now hasn't been working.

If the Eagles don't come out of the bye week looking like a different team, when will it happen? Week 10? Week 17? Ever?

The Eagles have played a lot of big, so-called "must-win" games already this season. Who would've thought this might be the biggest week of their season to date? It just might be the case seeing as this team will be trying to correct the mistakes of the previous seven weeks and get on track to make a playoff run out of the break.