Philadelphia Eagles: Was Signing of Nnamdi Asomugha a Massive Mistake?

When you treat the offseason like a casino buffet, scooping and shoveling talent onto your plate with an angry determination to get your money's worth after falling short at the tables last season, you expect to win.

But when you start 1-2 and lose your quarterback to injury in both losses, you start to wonder if you should have eaten so many oysters.

The Eagles are no stranger to gambling. They put their full faith behind a quarterback who has only once completed an entire season when they traded Kevin Kolb to Arizona. Michael Vick is an amazing talent when he's on the field, but his interludes are lengthening, and the backup plans haven't panned out so far.

Still, despite the emphasis placed on channeling this offense through Vick, the defensive side of the ball was the one that saw the most largesse. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie came over in the Kolb trade, Cullen Jenkins and Jason Babin were signed to beef up the defensive front and Casey Matthews was plucked from the draft. And the crown jewel, Nnamdi Asomugha, was paid to punish receivers across the NFC East.

However, through three games, the blueprint hasn't translated. Each of the past two quarterbacks the Eagles have faced have thrown four touchdown passes, in winning efforts. Eli Manning, the master of mistaken tosses, earned his first turnover-free game in Week 3, and Matt Ryan turned Tony Gonzalez into a 25-year-old again in Atlanta's win the week before.

With a cornerback depth chart that includes Asomugha, Rodger-Cromartie and Asante Samuel, opposing quarterbacks are supposed to shudder, not shine. But even though the secondary deserves some of the blame, this soft start isn't all on their shoulders. 

Before Manning racked up 254 yards, the Eagles hadn't allowed Ryan or Sam Bradford to reach 200. And Ryan was picked twice in a hurried and inspired effort by this defense that fell just short due to another Vick injury.

And that's the problem. This defense is consistently placed in tough spots due to turnovers from Vick's replacements or from Vick himself. Placing so much emphasis on shoring up a secondary that had long plagued Philadelphia was a great idea in theory, but cornerbacks can't cover fumbles, and they play no role in interceptions thrown by their own passers.

Signing Asomugha was far from a "massive mistake." It was the right move. Adding Rodgers-Cromartie and Jenkins and Babin were clever calls, too. When the window to win a championship starts to slide shut, getting active is the only option.

Besides, the season is only four weeks old, and the fact remains that a 1-2 start still leaves as much possibility for an 11-5 season as it does for 5-11. 

After all, with an Asomugha up your sleeve and a backup quarterback declaring your team the stuff of dreams, the odds won't always be on the house.