Column: The Eagles aren’t who we thought they were

I wonder who was more surprised about the abysmal loss of the Philadelphia Eagles to the lowly Oakland Raiders on Sunday — Eagles or Raiders fans. The Raiders were coming off an embarrassing loss to the New York Giants, in which Raiders’ quarterback JaMarcus Russell only completed eight passes. The Eagles, on the other hand, were coming off an easy win over the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I believe Raiders fans were more surprised to see the Raiders actually play a good game. Yet I think that this loss for the Eagles means more to the team going forward than the win does for the Raiders.

After being demolished in New York, the Raiders had returned to Oakland with the nation laughing at their backs on every sports talk show. When asked about the game against the Raiders, Giants’ linebacker Antonio Pierce told reporters, “It felt like we were playing a scrimmage.” Many Raiders appear to have taken that comment to heart, including Russell, who had an amazing turnaround. In New York, Russell only completed eight passes for 100 yards, while this week against the Eagles, he completed 17 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown.

Now, don’t get me wrong: Russell is a terrible quarterback with no chance at becoming a stable one. Raiders Managing General Partner Al Davis is probably hallucinating and thinks that Russell’s touchdown to interception ratio (2-6) is actually the other way around.

All the win means for the Raiders is that they responded to national scrutiny and did not let the Eagles walk all over them in their house. They still turned the ball over twice, had only one big offensive play and played a messy football game.

On the other hand, this game revealed the real Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles’ offense was nonexistent in the second half of Sunday’s game. Following a missed field goal by David Akers on their first second-half drive, the Eagles went three and out four times in a row, totaling just four yards.

Donovan McNabb could not drop back without being harassed by a pursuing Raider. The Raiders sacked McNabb an impressive six times, dominating the Eagles’ weak offensive line. Furthermore, the Eagles could not get the run going around Brian Westbrook and only put Michael Vick in for two plays. The Eagles’ rushing offense ran a pathetic 67 yards behind Westbrook, who appears to be a step slower on every play this season.

Yet how good did we really think the Eagles were heading into Oakland?

Before this weekend, the Eagles were 3-1 and ranked seventh in ESPN’s Power Rankings. The Eagles’ three wins were all against below-.500 teams: the Carolina Panthers (2-3), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-6) and the Kansas City Chiefs (1-5). The Eagles’ only loss was to the offensive powerhouse New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees’ three touchdowns.

You couldn’t get a clear picture of how good they were because they hadn’t played a close game yet this season. Sure, the Philadelphia offense is jam-packed with superstar names like McNabb, Vick, Westbrook, DeSean Jackson and rookie Jeremy Maclin. Yet head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg have lost control of their game plan and have not figured out how to properly manage all their talent.

The only thing that appears to be going well for the Eagles is their defense. The Eagles have the league’s third-best team defense according to yards per game, with 282. They also have a league-leading 11 interceptions. While the Eagles’ defense has performed well against the lackluster offenses of Oakland, Kansas City, Tampa Bay and Carolina, it allowed 48 points against the New Orleans Saints. The only offense with any talent found enough holes in the Eagles’ defense to score more points than McNabb ever could.

The Philadelphia Eagles face a mighty difficult season. They have six division games remaining as well as games against the undefeated Denver Broncos, the talented Atlanta Falcons, the San Diego Chargers, the much-improved San Francisco 49ers and the always-tough Chicago Bears. If the Eagles play any of their remaining opponents the way they played in Oakland, they will be run off the field.

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The Philadelphia Eagles will continue to struggle this year as they face tougher foes. Look for the Eagles to finish the season with a record of 8-8 or 9-7 and fail to make the playoffs this year. Stop treating the loss to the Oakland Raiders as a huge surprise. The Eagles are not that good and the Raiders, though terrible, played a hard-nosed football game. McNabb is not nearly as good as his mom is at cooking Campbell’s delicious soup, and Andy Reid needs to stop eating all of those Dunkin’ Donuts. Sorry, Eagles fans — you should just stick with the Phillies right now!