I hate to be so down after a tough loss…. truly, there were good things to be appreciated. Like WR Jason Avant being rediscovered in the offense as possibly the next best slot receiver to Wes Welker, with nearly 150 yards in receiving… or WR Reggie Brown showing up with some key catches throughout the game keeping it close…or Brent Celek with clutch TD reception action… or Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson with some timely crossing route receptions. Donovan McNabb threw for nearly 450 yards…and, unbelievably, the Eagles still lost the game! Unfortunately for the Eagles, the San Diego Chargers were the better team this day. They completely shut down the run game of the Eagles…and Phillip Rivers was a surgeon at QB, even with his awkward throwing motion added as emphasis, as he dissected the Philly secondary with distinction. Probably the winning play of the day was Rivers’ TD pass to Legedu Naanee on a double-move on which Eagles’ CB Asante Samuel got caught absolutely flat-footed with 1:13 left in the 3rd quarter to make it Chargers 28, Eagles 9… That, folks, was the ballgame right there. The rest of the game was sheer desperation catch-up by the Eagles, and, not so shocking to followers of Andy Reid and his methodology, the Eagles found themselves in the 4th quarter after a huge series of drives with 6:30 left in the game and no time-outs to stop the Chargers from sealing the game with a field goal.

This game was so typically frustrating for Eagles’ fans I will not belabor the obvious criticisms. Instead I will point out the positive factors of the Chargers: “LT” finally broke out with a great rushing performance (nearly 100 yards and a TD), WR Malcolm Floyd dominated CB Sheldon Brown all day long, and the Chargers’ defensive front simply shut down the Eagles’ running game, consistently stuffing the Birds on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 in the red zone. Even FoxSports TV commentator Brian Billick was moved to remark: “I don’t understand how the Eagles’ mathematics theory works when you’re trading field goals for touchdowns…”

But such is the mindset of Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg, and one can only hope their mathematics of attrition will somehow prevail in this year’s Eagles’ edition of a struggling team somehow making it to the playoffs.

Right now, at 5-4, it’s still feasible that the Eagles can right their ship and somehow stumble into a wild-card playoff slot. After all, the Giants are hurting right now and Dallas lost to Green Bay. But, sooner better than later, the Eagles have to prove they belong among the elite teams of the NFC. Quite frankly, based on Sunday’s performance against the Chargers, the Eagles are exposed as a middle-of-the-road contender—-up one week, down the next.

It was a terribly slow start for McNabb and the Eagles’ offense, a fear we had expressed in our previous column, as the Chargers’ defensive front and secondary was horribly underestimated by Reid and Mornhinweg. To compound the problem, DC Sean McDermott dialed up a passive defensive scheme against the Chargers that allowed QB Phil Rivers all the time he needed to make key completions and to allow “LT” to get off to the best rushing start of his season. The Eagles were down 14-0 as quickly as you could say ” 20-yard screen pass to Mike Tolbert” and “LT for a 3-yard TD run” after a Malcom Floyd reception over Sheldon Brown with 11:45 to go in the 2nd quarter.

I give the Eagles credit for not quitting. They almost made it a ball game with a furious rally in the 4th quarter. At times McNabb looked ferocious, unstoppable. Avant was fabulous, Reggie Brown made his mark, Celek was in play, and Jeremy Maclin was making key receptions, too. Akers didn’t miss, and Rocca was punting the best air-bombs I’ve ever seen him accomplish. The Eagles totally took that Sproles factor out of the mix. But the total lack of a running attack completely derailed the Birds. There was nothing to be found on 3rd and 1. Absolutely embarrassing…No Weaver, no Westbrook, no McCoy, no Buckley, no nothing… In fact, Brian Westbrook suffered yet another concussion and you may as well send him congratulations for a great career, because from a medical standpoint Brian Westbrook is done, gone, thanks for the memories, please don’t play another game lest you wind up in a disability ward where they have to teach you how to talk and walk all over again…

I don’t mean to be crass, but Brian needs to call it a day for the sake of his own welfare. And McNabb may need to consider calling it a career, too. Watching Donovan excel one week against the Giants, then struggling two weeks in a row against the Cowboys and the Chargers, may be telling us McNabb is just not that into the game anymore. Forgive me for the suggestion, but Donovan did not look like he was really prepared for the San Diego defense. Sure, throwing for 450 yards is a big deal…but what happened to the running game? Isn’t winning as a QB more about game management than big passing numbers? Maybe it’s not about McNabb, maybe the Eagles’ beleaguered O-Line is simply unable to generate a running attack. And maybe it’s not so much McNabb, but Mornhinweg and Reid who are calling the losing plays into his headset.

Okay, bear with me (pun intended), I’m not giving up on the Birds just yet as we go up against Chicago next Sunday night. But I tell you, if we lose to the Bears, I will pronounce this season officially a dud. I really need to feel this team can go off on a 3 or 4-game run of solid winning play before I can even begin to think playoffs. This team on paper is too talented to accept anything less.