Eagles Aftermath: Chargers-31, Eagles-23

What happened?
The Eagles didn't have enough time to climb back out of a 28-9 hole in the fourth quarter, as they dropped their second straight game, this one to the San Diego Chargers.

The Good:
Even though he threw the ball way too much, Donovan McNabb was 35/55 for 450 yards and two touchdowns.

Jason Avant had a career day, catching eight passes for 156 yards.

The Bad:
Brian Westbrook had just six carries for 28 yards before leaving the game with another concussion.

The Ugly:
The rest of the Eagles managed just one more rushing yard on seven other carries.

The defense was just awful, allowing 31 points and letting Philip Rivers and LaDanian Tomlinson pick them apart. I'm not going to break it all down here, because I'd be typing this out all night.

How's this for balance? The Eagles passed the ball 56 times...and rushed it just 13.

The Breakdown:
This makes two weeks in a row now that the Eagles have come out and laid an egg against a team that they could have beaten. This week, the San Diego Chargers jumped out to a big lead early in the fourth quarter and despite the best efforts from Donovan McNabb, there just wasn't enough time to get back into this game.

Yes, Donovan passed the ball far too much during this game, but that's not on him. He doesn't call the plays. Today, the blame for this loss rests on the shoulders of Andy Reid and the defense. Andy has to call a more balanced game than what he called today. I know the run game wasn't working that well, but to only call 13 running plays is absurd. Brian Westbrook was back in the starting lineup for a little while today, and when he got to touch the ball, he didn't look bad. Of course, once the Eagles were down at the half, Andy basically threw the running plays out the window, calling just five more for the rest of the game, just as the Eagles had started to move on the ground. In the first half, the Eagles had just nine yards on eight carries. As the second half started, the Eagles managed to pick up 20 yards on just five carries. It was starting to turn around, and Andy moved away from it. It's the same thing he's done in his entire time in Philadelphia. If the Eagles are down going into the second half, he is going to have Donovan air the ball out for the rest of the game. It's just how it is.

Of course, that strategy almost worked today, had it not been for the lackluster defensive play. LaDanian Tomlinson hadn't cracked 90 yards rushing in a game this entire season, but the Philadelphia defense let him hop in the WayBack machine, and he finished the game with 96 yards and two touchdowns. Philip Rivers was able to pick apart a wounded secondary, completing 20 of 25 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns. When the game was on the line late in the fourth quarter, Rivers completed several key throws that allowed the Chargers to take tons of time off the clock and leave the Eagles with next to nothing when it came time to mount a last stand. There is no excuse for how the defense played today. They couldn't get pressure when they needed to, they couldn't stop anyone when they had to and they just looked slow out there. I know the linebackers and secondary are patchwork, to say the best, right now, but they still have to play better than how they did today.

When you look at the stats of this game, the Eagles should have won. They outgained the Chargers by 130 yards, had more first downs and more trips to the red zone. However, the lack of a running game, stupid penalties, and lack of success inside the red zone counteracted all the positives. When you are playing a team like the Chargers, you can not trade field goals for touchdowns when you get into the red zone, and that's what the Eagles did today. Brian Westbrook is likely out for the year now with another concussion, which means the offense is going to become even more pass oriented, especially with the lack of success this team has had in short yardage situations the last two weeks. With a patchwork offensive line and back seven of the defense, the rest of the Eagles' season might be a very bumpy ride. They can still pull it together, though, and that quest starts next week in Chicago.