Donovan McNabb and Jason Avant fought gamely to keep it close yesterday, but in the end Andy Reid’s birdbrained playcalling and numerous injuries doomed the Birds. And once again, the lack of a running game didn’t help things. The Eagles ran the ball a total of 13 times for a dismal 29 yards. While some people will blast Andy for not running enough, I don’t see how he really had a choice between the 20s. The running game went nowhere, and the Chargers simply could not stop the Eagles pass game. McNabb passed for 433 yards. In addition, Brian Westbrook went down with another concussion, so you were down an RB as well. But Andy’s decision to repeatedly pass inside the ten was just inexcusable. McNabb is a great deep passer, but he is terrible at short passing. Meanwhile, you’ve got a big back like Weaver to pound the ball up the middle. Yes, the Eagles are down two guards, so maybe run it off tackle instead of right up the middle. And when you are inside the one yard line, run your 260 lb. quarterback. Yes, I know it didn’t work last week. But that had as much to do with the refs as anything else. No coach at any level of football, Little League on up, should ever kick a field goal from the 1 inch line when they trail by 14.

But again, the Eagles don’t rush on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 because that’s how little confidence the squad has in their running game. And while in baseball teams can upgrade when they need a few spare parts midway through the year, the salary cap that everyone thinks is the end-all be-all in the NFL essentially prohibits teams for upgrading midway through the season. And so, the Eagles are who you think they are. A team ravaged by injuries and with no running game. They might still make the playoffs because the NFC East is so weak, but teams that win Super Bowls rarely are incapable of running the ball (That’s why I think the Colts are ultimately doomed this year.) So there is no need to take this Eagles team seriously, despite their inevitable playoff push that will come in December.