Philadelphia Eagles Appear on the Verge of Total Freefall

This week and last were supposed to be "get-well" games for the Philadelphia Eagles. The recent string of opponents were supposed to serve as a springboard for a playoff run.

Instead, the Eagles are losers in back-to-back weeks, at home no less, their record falling to 4-6. Instead, they have the look of a team that's on the verge of a total collapse—some would even suggest the look of a team that's quitting.

After all, it's not merely the back-to-back losses. It's the manner in which the Eagles are losing.

	Eagles	Opponents
Points	20	62
Total Yards	673	753
Rushing Yards	179	371
Passing Yards	494	382
First Downs	41	37
Red Zone	0/2	7/9
Takeaways	0	5
Giveaways	5	0

Last week, coming off a thrilling overtime victory over the rival Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles jumped out to a 16-3 first-quarter lead over the then-3-5 Miami Dolphins. Then the Birds suddenly went flat, starting quarterback Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game with an injury, and they wound up falling by a final score of 20-19.

On Sunday, the Eagles responded like a team still feeling the effects of a hangover. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked into Lincoln Financial Field with a 4-5 record, and after quickly falling behind 7-0, proceeded to dominate the game to the tune of a 45-17 finish, racking up 521 yards of total offense and forcing four turnovers.

You could see the vacant stares in the faces of Eagles defenders as they struggled to get off the field. You could see the mounting frustration in the offensive players as drive after drive stalled or ended in a giveaway. You could feel the life coming right out of the stadium.

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Eagles looked like a defeated squad, a group that has come to the realization something is broken, that they are far from the trendy preseason Super Bowl pick many observers imagined they were. Two "inferior" opponents with losing records, two ugly, sloppy losses.

The man at the center of it all, naturally, is head coach Chip Kelly. Not only has he failed to get his team prepared many weeks, he's the mastermind behind an offseason roster overall that's looking more and more disastrous by the week.

And Kelly doesn't know what the problem is. Does his team still believe in the message?

"I don't think anybody played well today, and I don't think we're talking about beliefs," Kelly responded. "We just didn't play well as a football team in any facet of the game, and there's no excuse for that."

Kelly added that he would never use the word "quit," and effort honestly has not appeared to be the problem. Yet whatever the issues, the Eagles have looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL for the better part of the past two weeks.

Now the question shifts to whether this team has the fortitude to snap out of it.

"We'll find out," said Kelly. "You guys all want to write a narrative of 'How does this game affect that game?' I mean, we beat Dallas, and that was 'We're gonna win the rest of our games,' and it doesn't work that way. It never works that way.

"We have to come back to work tomorrow morning and get ready to play a game on Thursday. So if we allow this game to affect us on Thursday, then shame on us."

The game on Thursday is against the Detroit Lions, another one of those supposedly inferior, get-well opponents everybody thought the Eagles had on their schedule. However, the Lions are now winners of two straight, and at 3-7, are only one game worse than Philadelphia in the standings.

As if that weren't enough, the Eagles must travel to Detroit on a short week, a definite disadvantage for a road team missing its starting quarterback.

Given everything that's happened in the past two weeks, what message does Kelly send to his players now?

"I told those guys, 'You better have a short memory,' because we'll be back tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock.

"We all take ownership, we all take responsibility, every single person in that room contributed to that loss and contributed to the outcome of that football game. Go get some sleep, turn around and we'll see you tomorrow morning at 8."

But the way they're playing, many are wondering if every single person in that room is still listening.

Kelly preaches culture and targets athletes who are also intelligent and have a strong moral fiber. There's no chance the majority of the players on the Eagles roster would quit.

That being said, it's possible confidence is becoming an issue, and once that is lost, it can be difficult to regain. Kelly says he has confidence in his players, both in their talent and resilience, but both are being put to the test now.

Only time will tell whether the Eagles can rebound. Then again, even if they bounce back and win or put up a respectable showing against the Lions, that doesn't mean a different kind of freefall isn't inevitable—the one they're currently experiencing in the standings.

In spite of everything, the Eagles are only one game back of first place in the NFC East, which means a playoff berth is still on the table. However, if the losses continue to mount, the conversation will soon shift from the race for a division championship to draft position.

That is, if that shift isn't already happening.

All quotes obtained by the author.