Philadelphia Eagles or Philadelphia Phillies: Who's the Bigger Hometown Choker?

On Friday night, the World Series-favorite Philadelphia Phillies were bounced from the playoffs after falling to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS.

Less than 48 hours later, Philadelphia fans watched with disgust and amazement as the Eagles continued to find ways to lose.

During this two-day span, the greatest team in Phillies history collapsed in first-round defeat, and the Eagles pushed themselves to the brink of elimination after a mere five games.

These events beg the eternal Philadelphia sports question: Who choked worse?

The Eagles Make Their Case

Vince Young had no idea what sort of monster he was creating. 

Expectations were already high and pressure was intense even before the backup quarterback foolishly uttered the words "Dream Team."

The Philadelphia Eagles were the darlings of the offseason. After the lockout was lifted, the team began adding talent at a dizzying pace.

With an already explosive offense and three new Pro Bowlers on defense, the Eagles entered the season as a strong Super Bowl contender.

After only five games, the Eagles sit at 1-4 and are long-shots to even make the playoffs.

This Eagles team has lost using virtually every mistake in the book.

They are tied for a league-worst minus-10 in turnover differential, and missed tackles have become a defensive staple. Throw in the game-ending offside call from the Bills game, and the Eagles have just about done it all.

The talent is there. The Eagles show brief glimpses of what they were expected to be.

Unfortunately the next critical mistake is never too far down the road.

Coaching Ineptitude

In order to win, players must perform well, and coaches must put them in a position to do so. Right now, neither is happening for the Eagles.

The problems start at the top with Andy Reid.

Throughout his tenure as Eagles head coach, Reid has received criticism for play-calling and poor clock management. These issues remain even in his 13th year.

While Reid can't shoulder all the blame for costly fumbles, ill-adivsed passes and missed field goals, he does bear the overall burden of the team's struggling red zone offense.

The defensive side of the ball is a mess in its own right.

Reid promoted Juan Castillo to defensive coordinator and brought in Jim Washburn to coach the defensive line.

Washburn uses the wide-nine technique to rush the quarterback, but this leaves big holes for the running game. Castillo has yet to show the ability to scheme or to adjust on the fly to stop the run.

However, if you keep climbing the ladder, it will lead you right back to Reid.

The greatest weakness of Castillo's defense is the linebacking corps. Reid has traditionally placed little to no value on this position.

Offense, defense, coordinator or head coach. It doesn't matter, there is plenty of blame to go around.

Now the Phillies' Turn

Things were looking good for the Phillies. After a convincing win in Game 1, the offense handed Cliff Lee an early four-run lead.

This series was all but locked up. Cliff Lee would do his thing, and the Phillies would head out to St. Louis with a two-game lead.

Then, all they needed was a win from either Cole Hamels or Roy Oswalt, and they could fly back to Philadelphia and wait for their next opponent.

All of these plans were contingent on Lee providing a "Cliff Lee-type" performance. As we all know now, that didn't happen.

Lee did not have his stuff that Sunday night. The Cardinals tuned him up for five runs and 12 hits in the Phillies' loss.

Lee was brought back to Philadelphia to help carry this team on its World Series run.

His Game 2 performance fell woefully short, and in a short series, he never got a second start.

The Bats Go Silent

The Philadelphia Phillies dominated the 2011 regular season.

The offense struggled throughout significant portions of the season, but after the acquisition of Hunter Pence, it seemed to turn a corner.

The lineup got off to a red-hot start in the NLDS matchup against the Cardinals. This team was going to be unstoppable. An ace on the mound every night and players like Ryan Howard delivering at the plate.

It did not take long for that flame to burn out. After a blazing start, the Phillies offense went into one of its funks.

With the exception of Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies hitters could not get anything going after the second inning of Game 2. The Phillies put up only six runs over the final 34 innings of the series.

Roy Halladay took the mound for the winner-take-all Game 5. Halladay settled in after a rough first inning and allowed only one run over his eight innings of work.

With their ace on the mound, the Phillies offense mustered three hits and no runs of support.

You can't win if you can't score.

And the Winner Is...

The Philadelphia Phillies.

A staff of four aces. A payroll of over $170 million. The trade for All-Star Hunter Pence. A franchise record for regular season wins.

The list goes on and on.

2011 was supposed to be the year of the Phillies. With this roster, anything short of a championship would be a major disappointment.

A loss in the World Series would have been bad, but to not even make it out of the NLDS is unthinkable.

Keep in mind, however, that the Eagles still have 11 more regular season contests to add to their resumé.

Come January, the Eagles may prove to be the greatest chokers of 2011; but, as it stands now, that dubious title belongs to the Phillies.