Dear Eagles fans…

Life as an Eagles fan just became a little more difficult.

Not only have the Eagles lost to an inferior division rival in the Washington Redskins, but the Cowboys just clinched the division with a blowout win against the Colts, and the Giants could be more motivated than ever to erase the doughnut that they were limited to the last time the Eagles played them. The only thing that is a given for the Eagles this year is that they are now out of the playoffs.

Talk about a tough week.

But lets not sink into the endless Eagles’ cycle of rooting for the demise of our division opponents just yet. If we are so disappointed in the performance of our team, then I believe that we should check the expectations we set for the team in the first place.

After the Eagles loss to the Seattle Seahawks, it was not difficult to envision the Eagles losing the division to the Cowboys, who (at that time) seemed to be just as good as the Eagles with more talent. It is important to understand that the Cowboys have always had the talent to do what they have done this season, they just couldn’t figure out a way to make that talent translate directly into their win total at the end of the season. It seemed to be inevitable that the Cowboys would realize that they actually had a running back on their roster (a pretty good one too) and that they should probably give him the ball consistently.

But who ever said that they knew the year would end like this for the Eagles lied with the conviction of a politician.

The Eagles were in prime position for another NFC East division title going into the Dallas game in Philadelphia. They were hyped, the crowd was blazing with excitement, and the optimistic disposition of fans raged throughout the stadium. It seemed as though the Eagles were ready to put another beating on their division rivals or, at least, acquire another victory.

All that excitement left the stadium after the first play of the game.

But with the Eagles season now in shambles with one game left in the year, only a question for fans and Eagles’ brass remains; A question that calls into question the arrogance and the pride of all Eagles fans (myself included); A question that provides clarity for the reason for the Eagles disappointing season.

Did we underestimate our own arrogance so much as to think that we could overcome our lack of talent with coaching?

Take a minute to consider a few things. At the beginning of the season, what functional person would have believed that the Eagles have a more talented team than the Dallas Cowboys? Even though Nick Foles had an awesome season for the Eagles last year, there were signs that would suggest a few of those touchdowns and the lack of his interception total was a fluke (yes, I know).

Foles actually led the NFL in missed interceptions last season (would-be interceptions that were dropped by defenders) and he loaded his touchdown total up with unprecedented games against weaker teams like the Raiders and Bucs. This is not to take away from Foles, good QB’s defeat weaker defensive units, but at the beginning of this season, Foles had one thing going against him that he didn’t have last year when he was put into the line-up. Every young quarterback’s sophomore season is a struggle, especially in a league where game film reveals every mistake and tendency you have.

Even looking at other positions outside of the quarterback spot, the Eagles have been lacking in their defensive secondary ever since the departure of Brian Dawkins at the safety position. Just as recently as 2012, the Eagles were 4-12, which led to Andy Reid leaving town. Were we so babied and coddled in victorious seasons that we believed Chip Kelly could arrive in town and lead a 4-12 team, although loaded with potential, back to consistent playoff contention?

Chip Kelly’s fast start in his first year brought an unfair and unrealistic optimism about the talent on the team that was not consistent with the reality of the Eagles roster. If you were to ask any fan if the Eagles had a playoff contending team back in August, the answer was more than likely to be ‘no’ but that didn’t stop fans from believing in that sentiment when the Eagles proved to play better than expected. No one thought the Eagles were a bad team.

But the amount of time that it was going to take for Chip Kelly and Billy Davis to change a team that retained most of the players from the 2012 season into a brand new playoff contender was grossly understated.

The Eagles lack depth behind their starters at key defensive positions, they lack quality play and production in the secondary (something they have lacked for more than 3 seasons), and they lack one or two more play-making receivers in their offense to prevent Lesean McCoy from being keyed so easily by opposing defenses. Some stability at the quarterback position would also help as Kelly has had four different starting quarterbacks in his two seasons in the league (Vick, Foles, Barkley, and Sanchez). Not to mention, the Eagles defense has only recently switched into a 3-4 scheme full time this past season (Davis used a multiple defense last year so that the 4-3 players from the 2012 season could learn their positions seamlessly, which he has still used at times this season in order to play to the strengths of his personnel).

The over-arching question of our expectations versus our reality is much more difficult to admit than it is to answer. Coaching in the NFL will take a team very far. Player development and the under appreciated art of teaching is essential to a team that plans on contending consistently in their division, especially in a league that continuously learns from every person who joins and every person who has ever been a part of it.

Its time to be realistic about our expectations for this team. Looking ahead to next year, even if the Eagles draft the best corner-back and safety in the NFL draft, can we honestly expect those rookies to make such a monumental change in our defensive unit? The defense finished with a very believable rank in the NFL given the amount of snaps they played and the sheer speed that the offense plays at. The offense finished at a very high rank in the NFL given the fact that their starting quarterback only played a little more than half the season.

Moral of the story? It is great that the Eagles have the capacity to galvanize the fans into believing that high expectations are normal expectations. It is great that Chip Kelly was able to take the team and the talent he had as far as he did. Still, it is our duty as sensible fans of the sport to objectively project their potential based on what we see on the field. So, did we underestimate our own arrogance so much as to think that we could overcome our lack of team talent? Yes, we did.

But are we going to lower our expectations, check our pride, and stop pouring our hearts and hopes out on this football team?

Nope.

Sincerely,

A fellow Eagles fan