Philadelphia Eagles Are Done, so Is Andy Reid's Coaching Tenure

Now 4-7 after being hammered 38-20 by the New England Patriots on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles aren't out of the playoff race in the NFC.

Not mathematically, at least. Looking at it practically, however, it's an entirely different situation.

With five games to go, the Eagles are three games behind the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East. What's more, they are three games back of the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions in the wild-card hunt.

The reality is just this simple: The Eagles are done.

Many things went wrong on Sunday for the Eagles, most of them the same things that have gone wrong for most of the season.

Embattled defensive coordinator Juan Castillo saw his charges surrender nearly 40 points and almost 500 yards to the visiting Patriots.

Done in by its lack of discipline on many occasions this year, Philadelphia was flagged for 10 penalties. Included in that total were two third-down miscues on a single New England possession that eventually ended with a Patriot touchdown.

Disgruntled receiver DeSean Jackson continued to go about his whole getting-paid thing the wrong way, dropping a pair of touchdown passes.

Andy Reid, the NFL's longest-tenured head coach with his current team, made a couple of questionable play calls when the Eagles needed but a single yard to keep a drive alive. Reid was also the target of unhappy fans at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday—those who kept chanting "Fire Andy" throughout much of the game.

The loss came a week after Philadelphia had seemingly saved its season with a huge 17-10 win over the New York Giants.

Things started well on Sunday. The Eagles led 10-0 after their first two possessions, but were outscored 38-10 the rest of the way as Tom Brady had his way with the Philadelphia secondary. Brady threw for 371 yards and three touchdowns.

The loss was the Eagles' eighth in their last nine home games. If ever a team didn't need a dramatically shortened work week, it would be this Eagles squad. Nevertheless, they'll be flying across country for a Thursday night game in Seattle this week.

Jackson's gaffes. the leaky secondary and the ill-timed penalties were bad enough, but Philadelphia showed one of the true hallmarks of a team on the verge of imploding. Defensive line coach Jim Washburn and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg were openly arguing on the sideline.

Vince Young, making his second consecutive start in relief of the injured Michael Vick, threw for a career-high 400 yards against the Patriots. However, the Eagles only found the end zone once before the rout was on.

I suppose Reid could presumably save his job, but it would likely take Philadelphia running the table to finish 9-7. It's a difficult spot for a coach who is the franchise's leader in wins, winning percentage and playoff victories.

However, Reid is also the guy who thought taking an offensive line coach with no experience on the other side of the ball and naming him defensive coordinator seemed like a good plan. If nothing else, the Castillo experiment should prove that success on one side of the ball is not a guarantee of success on the other.

Should Reid be fired if the Eagles finish poorly? His track record would seem to buy him some time, but this is a what-have-you-done-for-us-lately league.

Given the huge expectations and the disappointing returns, Philadelphia will likely be doing something this offseason that it hasn't done this century. That is, searching for a new head coach.