The Ugly Truth

I watched the Eagles-Cowboys game tonight without any kind of enthusiasm, and that was before the opening kickoff. Part of it was simply dread, because there's nothing worse than seeing your team lose in the night game; you stay up late, and watching Owens gloat is right up there with pouring acid on your genitals, in terms of Happy Fun Time.

But here's the bigger problem, independent of Owens. Tonight, really for the first time in the Reid Era, I felt that the game had really passed the organization by. Maybe it's the family stuff, maybe it's just what happens after so many years of being near the top, a bad change had to come. But there was never a moment in this game, even when Sheppard broke on the ball to Crayton and made the interception in the second quarter, that I really thought they were better than the Cowboys, or that they were going to win. And when that happens, especially in a home game to your most hated rival, it's over.

Looking at this position by position, where are the Eagles better than the Cowboys? Certainly not WR, and the Cowboys are missing their number two in Terry Glenn. Probably not even RB, and I love Brian Westbrook, because Marion Barber is also damn good, and Julius Jones is better than Corell Buckhalter. Just looking at the pressure on each QB, and you know who has the better offensive line. And Tony Romo is more mobile now, and more accurate. Maybe Don gets better the farther away he gets from the surgery, and maybe he's a mobile QB who's over 30 and isn't likely to suddenly discover accuracy on all throws at this stage.

Now, defense. Maybe the Eagles are better than they've showed tonight, but given that they rolled over and played dead against the Bears to cost them that game in the clutch, and that their best players in the secondary (Sheppard, Dawkins) either can't stay healthy or young... well, it's hard to make the case.

But more than anything, you could just listen to the crowd. The thing you have to realize about Eagles Fan is that they know line play; they've watched football for their whole lives, and you really can't fool them that their team is something that it isn't. They know this team has no one on it -- no, not even Dawkins -- who was ready to lay him out. They know the talent gap is too wide, and the season is more or less over. The players know it, the fans know it, and that's really all there is to it.

Can the Eagles provide anything of value for the rest of the year? It's hard to imagine. There's a Patriots game that will be exceptionally ugly, there are more games in the division that really don't look good, and at some point, the calls for Reid and McNabb to go will be too loud to ignore. Kevin Kolb awaits, and coaching is not a game for young men, or distracted coaches.

It's been a good run -- the best in the history of the franchise. But it's over. They are a veteran team that's 3-5 and going nowhere, not getting better, and doesn't seem to have any idea how to move on.

And yes, I wrote this before the third quarter was even over. I feel like I could have written it before the game, really.