Sure, the Eagles are Alive, but Who Cares?

The Philadelphia Eagles are a half-game out of first place. Now that i'm done with the good news, here's reality- they stink. The Eagles are a disappointing 4-5 on the season, and remain alive because the Giants can't seem to beat them, and can't seem to put away a division they have been the best team in most of the season. The Eagles were a very hyped team during the off-season, but they have not lived anywhere near up to that hype.

Yesterday the Eagles had a 16-3 lead after the first quarter, and seemed to be on their way to an easy win over a 3-5 Miami team coming in. Three quarters and just three more points scored later, the Eagles lost 20-19, and now the two teams are matching 4-5's on the season. The difference? Miami has been left for dead for weeks, firing their head coach after a 1-3 start. The Eagles continue to stay alive, as many fans remind us, despite their consistent mediocrity this season. Sure, their quarterback is hurt (and none of them have been all that good anyway), their offensive line isn't great, their running game is anemic, and their receivers drop a lot of balls, but their offense hasn't eliminated them yet. Their defense gave them another solid effort at 20 points, but they also aren't going out and shutting down teams to the point where their anemic offense can get them enough points. Oh yeah, and they missed another field goal that would have given them more points than the opponent. It wasn't such an impressive game.

Of course though, the Eagles are alive. Their 4-5 record puts them in third place in the NFC East (thanks to their loss in DC), but the first place Giants are 5-5 on the season, thanks to a 54 yard field goal at the end of regulation yesterday. Sure, the Eagles haven't been very good, but they still have a shot, right?

Who cares? Has the play of this team made you think they can make a run in the post-season. Yes, they hung in there with the Panthers, on a night where Cam Newton was totally awful, but they still lost. Minnesota and Arizona have been very consistently good so far, so while neither necessarily scares you to death, both would be favored against the Birds. Despite the struggles of the Seahawks and Packers, I'd place my money on both against the Eagles. Yes, the Eagles should have defeated Atlanta, but they didn't. Even if you see room for them to beat some of these teams on a good day, which I agree is possible, it's not likely they'd win three games in a row to win the NFC, or four in a row to win a title. It's far more likely they'd lose in the first round. So again, why would we be excited by this team's chances to win the division? I watched receivers look like they didn't know they were the targets on play, and one Mark Sanchez pass hit DeMarco Murray in the numbers, in the back of course. This team looks mentally unprepared and inconsistent when they are on the field.

The Eagles are not so hopelessly flawed that Chip Kelly should be fired for the poor performance of this team. It is really the first season of his rebuild, and his personnel was always going to need some time to gel. Even so, they don't have the quarterback, the line, the running attack, or the deep threat receiver right now to contend. The team has obvious holes, and will need to use the coming off-season to fill them. As is, this 4-5 team is not contending to win much of anything that matters this season.