After loses by the Giants, Falcons, Panthers, and 49ers, the Eagles blew a good chance to move up in the standings and the playoff hunt with a 45-21 loss to Indianapolis.
At 5-6, a playoff appearance is looking less and less likely.
Once again, Philadelphia's inability to stop the run was sickening, as they allowed 237 yards on the ground and four TD runs by Joseph Addai.
Right from the first drive, the Eagles fell behind and were forced to play catchup the rest of the way.
While the Eagles ran the ball a lot more than usual, one particular play call was very suspect. After a great return on a kickoff by Reno Mahe to the Colts 46 yard line, the Eagles called a gadget play. Quarterback Jeff Garcia threw a backwards pass to receiver Hank Baskett, who then lofted a pass down field that was easily intercepted. Indianapolis drove down the field for a 21-0 lead.
The fact that Al Michaels said that the job of an announcer was to keep the audience (in the first half) speaks volumes to how bad this team is right now. They were laughing at the Eagles defense. But the offense was able to produce some.
Mainly because of a strong running game from Brian Westbrook, the Eagles clawed back into the game, making it 31-21 in the fourth quarter. Westbrook finished the game with 124 yards on the ground.
But once again, the defense was terrible, allowing a late Colts drive to last over six minutes. The most frustrating part was that they could not stop run after run after run.
Now the question is, where do the Eagles go from here? I am about as lost as how to answer that question as the coaching staff seems.
They are clearly headed in the wrong direction and a quick turnaround this season seems highly unlikely, even if they are still not far out of a playoff spot.
Maybe a place to start is figuring out how to stop the run.
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