Broadstreet Bunnies 1-4: Philadelphia Eagles Are a Disaster

It's no longer a slow start. Now it's just plain awful. I'm not an Eagle fan, nor am I an Eagle hater. It doesn't matter anymore though. One and four in the NFL is a major problem. Sure, they could go 10-1 or 9-2 the rest of the way and make the playoffs or even win the division, but what type of evidence have the Eagles given that that's anything more than a fantasy? 

The Eagles so far this season have basically displayed all the signs typically associated with bad football. This starts with an NFL worst minus-6 turnover ratio. Sunday's Bills game was no exception.

Philadelphia turned the ball over five times, led by quarterback Michael Vick, who at times looks a lot like a lost rookie rather than a 10-year veteran. Vick had four interceptions and the Eagles also lost a fumble as well. Sure, teams can win games with a negative turnover ratio, but it sure makes things more difficult.

The defense is bad. Rushing defense? Thirtieth in the NFL. While the Eagles offensive numbers are very good that's where the turnovers really have their impact. The Eagles defense can get to the quarterback, but not with enough regularity that the opposition can't score points.  

This goes beyond the numbers, though. The real crux of the problem seems to be that this is not so much a "team", per se, but a collection of talented athletes who all want to make plays but fail to see that in the big picture, a highlight is meaningless unless there's a win attached to it. 

Some of that is due in large part to head coach Andy Reid, but it doesn't all belong on his broad shoulders. Vick is officially not a quarterback who can be depended on week-in and week-out.

For every one of his jaw-dropping, video game stat-like performances like we saw in the fourth quarter of the infamous Eagles-Giants game last December, there are a collection of mediocre to flat-out poor performances. Vick is reaching the point where it's very reasonable to ask if he will ever become a quarterback who can be counted on to bring a reliably solid performance on a weekly basis. 

Quarterbacks don't have to put up outlandish gaudy numbers to be valuable leaders. In spite of his recent string of fantastic seasons, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had fairly modest numbers in the period from 2001-05 in which the Pats won three of four Super Bowls.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is another man who doesn't always put up amazing numbers, but he doesn't take too many sacks, he doesn't throw too many picks and he seems to make the right plays when he needs to.

That's not to say that a team can't win behind spectacular quarterback play. Just ask Packers fans, who are rightfully giddy over the weekly performances of last season's Super Bowl MVP, Aaron Rodgers.

It's not all on Vick either, though. The Eagles do have talent. In spite of their record, make no mistake about it. They're not a team like the Chiefs, Rams or Vikings, trying to plug in middle-of-the-road talent in key positions until they can restock through the draft.

Play calling, execution, and that most difficult thing to measure, heart. You hear a lot of gibberish yammered by various players in the NFL. It's not a league for anyone who's not willing to go all out on every play. When Frank Gore of the San Francisco 49ers, who last Sunday mounted a massive second-half comeback to beat the Eagles, 24-23, despite trailing 23-3 in the third quarter, says something like this

"I think playing that second half and the way we came out, the Eagles didn't want to play no more," Gore said in an interview on ESPN's "First Take."

That's something that people should make a note of. Not because Gore is some sort of unbiased observer, but because there really aren't a lot of other good reasons to explain the play of the Eagles. There is talent and there is personnel. Is there a cohesive unit on the field playing as one that wants to win every week?

No, and until that happens the Eagles won't be getting too many wins. No one hands anyone anything in the NFL. The talented but underachieving Eagles are learning that the hard way so far this season.