Philadelphia Eagles Proving They Can't Be Trusted Outside of the NFC East

Despite having the meticulous Chip Kelly as their head coach, the Philadelphia Eagles have become a team that consistently fails to do the little things right. And on Sunday in Arizona, the mistake-prone Eagles provided us with proof that they don't have a sustainable model for success in place. 

They were extremely lucky to be 5-1 entering Sunday's game—beneficiaries of seven non-offensive touchdowns through six weeks. Four of their wins came against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Washington Redskins, St. Louis Rams and New York Giants, who are a combined 8-21. 

But in a 24-20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Philly turned the ball over three times as the suddenly unreliable Nick Foles threw two interceptions for the third time in four games. The third-year quarterback now has nine picks on the year, which is the third-highest total in the NFL. 

	2013	2014
Pass attempts	317	299
Completion %	64.0	59.2
TD-INT	27-2	12-9
YPA	9.1	6.8
Passer rating	119.2	80.7

Last year, he had only two picks on 18 more pass attempts. 

And with two turnovers inside Arizona's 20-yard line Sunday, the Eagles have now turned the ball over four times in the red zone this year. That's something they did zero times with Foles at quarterback in 2013. 

And as CSN Philly's Reuben Frank points out, their problems in the red zone haven't merely been turnover-related: 

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A good dose of the blame has to go to the offense, still unable to punch in touchdowns deep in the red zone. In San Francisco, the Eagles couldn’t score from the 2-yard line in the fourth quarter and it cost them a game, and Sunday in Arizona, they couldn’t score from the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter and had to settle for a field goal, which ultimately cost them another game. They’re only two losses this year. You’re not going to beat good teams on the road when you can’t convert in the red zone. The Eagles went into Sunday worst in the NFL in red-zone conversion and they were 0 for 2 against the Cards — along with a turnover at the goal line on a play just outside the red zone. With the weapons this offense has, they should not be worst in the NFL in the red zone.

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At this point, Foles has been mediocre for a long enough stretch to raise legitimate questions about his ability to act as the franchise quarterback long term.

He's lost that magic touch that caused him to lead the league in the majority of major rate-based quarterback statistics in 2013, and it's not as though it'll get any easier with the Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks and two meetings with the red-hot Dallas Cowboys on the horizon. 

Injuries to key offensive linemen Evan Mathis and Jason Kelce have certainly factored in, but Super Bowl contenders get over those types of hurdles. This team was incredibly healthy last year, and it's proving this season that it doesn't possess the mettle or the discipline to succeed at less than 100 percent. 

The Eagles had two weeks to prepare for Arizona, and this was a very winnable game. But the fact they fell just one play short of beating a division leader on the road shouldn't have you believing they're in quality shape. Their opponent didn't exactly play a great game, and the Eagles sometimes looked as though they were trying to find ways to lose. 

For the third time this season, they were penalized on 10 or more occasions. That didn't happen once last year. They were only in this thing late because Arizona had a costly second-half turnover and couldn't get much going against Bill Davis' defense. 

That D is definitely a bright spot right now. It shut out the Giants on the other side of the bye and held Carson Palmer and Andre Ellington in check for most of Sunday's game. But defenses don't win championships these days. 

And considering that this season is supposed to be Super Bowl-or-bust for the Eagles, that's concerning. 

Can they still win the NFC East? Of course. They've already got two divisional victories in their back pocket and trail the first-place Cowboys by only a game. Dallas is no lock to stay hot, and Philly still has two kicks at that can later this season. 

But the expectation this year was to do a lot more than defend that division title before going one-and-done again in January. The problem is that based on what we've seen of late—as well as the fact the Eagles have now lost two games against potential NFC playoff teams from the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona—that might be their ceiling. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon