Roasted or Toasted: Either Way, the Philadelphia Eagles Are D-O-N-E

When I wrote my weekly NFL column making my predictions for this past Sunday's games, I knew there was no way the Eagles would cover the ridiculously high, 13.5-point spread against the visiting Tennessee Titans.

However, I did predict that the Eagles would beat the Titans, not suffer a total meltdown that has literally left their season - and immediate future - teetering on the brink of despair.

This loss to the young Titans may have been more devastating than any that the Eagles have suffered this season and not just because of the season-ending injury that quarterback Donovan McNabb suffered in the first half. Tennessee's victory may have signaled the beginning of the end for head coach Andy Reid and altered the future plans of a franchise that, just this season, seemed to still be among the league's elite teams.

The loss of McNabb for the remainder of the season may dominate the headlines in Philadelphia for the rest of this week, but it is the Eagles inability to produce on both sides of the ball that will soon overshadow McNabb's latest physical setback and have Birds fans all over the Tri-State area up in arms.

Looking at the Eagles right now, I have to admit that in over three decades of watching football, I have never seen a team begin a season looking so strong, only to have everything fall completely apart by mid-season. As atrocious as the Eagles have played the last six weeks, I am amazed that they even compiled the gaudy statistics that they did early on. To put it mildly, even with McNabb at the helm, the Eagles offense has looked incompetent and uninterested at best.

Andy Reid's play-calling has been absolutely atrocious for the second consecutive year, which tells me that it's either time to get a new offensive coordinator (which isn't going to happen) or a new head coach (which isn't going to happen yet either).

One Eagles possession in particular, summed up Reid's pathetic play-calling succinctly. With the ball inside the Titans' one-yard-line, instead of running McNabb for a quarterback sneak, or even trying Brian Westbrook or Correll Buckhalter for a short plunge, Reid twice chose to throw the ball, the second, which was intercepted a Tennessee linebacker who looked like he knew exactly what Reid had called and was waiting for McNabb's pass so he could cradle it in his arms like a baby.

Not only is Reid faltering, but the Birds' defense has been porous at best all season. The defensive line hasn't been able to stop the run all season and the pass defense has gotten burned almost as often.

However, it is Eagles lack of a running game - once again - that has doomed the Eagles season and will eventually send Reid to the unemployment line. Simply put, the Birds only run the ball when everyone in the stadium knows it, which just isn't going to cut it in the blitz-happy NFL these days.

Say what you want about the Eagles, Reid or McNabb, but before you say anything, you'd better go and pop up the toaster or open the oven door, because the Birds are officially cooked.