Late Game Coma Proves Fatal For Eagles

It was the same old story Sunday afternoon in Nashville. The only twist was a depressing, unhappy ending, leaving a rotten taste in the mouths of the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans. The schizophrenic personality of this team once again flipped on a dime as the Eagles dropped a seemingly winnable contest, 37-19, to the Tennessee Titans.

The theme was much the same as in previous weeks where the Birds appeared to be in complete control in the first half of play. Similar to the games against the 49ers and Lions, the Eagles kept the Titans off balance with a steady dose of Lesean McCoy on the ground and catching the ball out of the backfield. All the while, featuring an efficient, ball control passing attack with Kevin Kolb, who was operating without premier deep threat Desean Jackson. But unlike the standard script, the defensive second half nap caused a nauseating collapse.

The Eagles defensive unit did an admirable job of containing the leagues most dangerous weapon, Chris Johnson. They stacked the line of scrimmage with extra muscle in the box and provided little running room for Johnson, who managed only 66 yards from 24 carries. On most weeks, playing against an average corps of receivers and an aging QB in Kerry Collins, it would have been more than enough to secure a victory. But, today, with the mere flip of a switch, the Titans smash mouth, vanilla offense began to systematically derail the Eagle's young secondary with an aerial assault.

Kerry Collins appeared to magically turn back the clock and second year receiver, Kenny Britt, looked every bit the role of a pro bowl receiver. That is just how awful this Eagles defense was in the second half of play. Britt torched them in horrific fashion for a career high 225 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns. Safeties Nate Allen and Quintin  Mikell took turns demonstrating their inadequacies in coverage. Both allowed Britt to easily step behind them on multiple occasions and lacked the recovery speed to make plays on the deep ball.

This display was particularly disturbing as we look toward a game against the Indianapolis Colts after the bye week. If this defense struggled with the deadly attack of Collins to Britt, how will they respond when faced with Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne? The high powered Colts offense not only features multiple options at wide receiver but also has a fuctional running attack .

As we move to the comfort of a much needed bye week, Eagles fans look for some type of encouraging reassurance. Maybe it comes from the theory that most NFC teams are sailing in the same boat of mediocrity. Most of your division leaders are in a struggle to stay over .500 and only the Atlanta Falcons have reached 5 wins, prior to the Sunday late games. And this is the same Falcons team that the Eagles exposed to have plenty of defensive flaws of their own.

I have never been one to hang my hat on the look how bad the rest of the league is card. History has shown that certain teams will pull their act together and take shape as legitimate playoff contenders. If the Eagles have any aspirations of reaching this goal, they will need to consistently play two complete halves of football. Anything less will only strive to improve their position in next years NFL draft.

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