I was not surprised that the Eagles lost to the Cowboys at the Linc on Sunday. It hurt me to do so, but I had picked the hated guys from Dallas in my Dreaded Saturday Eagles Pick.
I was surprised that the game turned into a defensive struggle in which neither offense managed to do much.
And I was stunned at how ineffective Nick Foles was at quarterback for the Eagles.
No one saw this one coming - either for Chip Kelly's vaunted offense or the struggles of Nick Foles.
The two teams came into the game featuring two of the most prolific offenses in the NFL. With all that firepower, they managed a grand total of three points - a Cowboys field goal - in the first half.
Suffice it to say that the great debate over who should be the Eagles quarterback is now over. If Vick is healthy, he's the QB. And therein lies the problem. Vick is too often not healthy.
He was not even dressed for Sunday's mess in South Philly.
When Foles went out with concussion symptoms in the second half, it forced the debut of rookie Matt Barkley. It wasn't pretty. He threw three interceptions, while looking every bit the part of a first-year guy confused by a decent NFL defense.
That was to be expected. The way Foles played was not.
Very simply, Foles was atrocious. He wound up 11 for 29 and spent most of the day missing open receivers. Foles threw for a total of 80 yards. In his mopup role, Barkley threw for 129.
I'm flabbergasted at just how bad Foles played, and whether this was just an off day, he was hurt, or whether he was a victim of a pressing defense that took his receivers, including DeSean Jackson, pretty much out of the game. A confused Foles held onto the ball forever, and when he did manage to get someone open, he spent the afternoon throwing balls into the Linc turf.
If nothing else, Foles likely cemented the idea that he is not the future of the Philadelphia Eagles. For that matter, neither is the 33-year-old Vick.
For right now, Kelly needs to figure out who who will be his starter next week against the New York Giants.
Vick may not be completely healthy. If he's even close, he has to go. Foles' status will be determined after concussion testing. But his performance yesterday calls into question whether he'll ever be considered a legitimate starting quarterback in the league.
The truth is, the future of the Eagles at quarterback is not on this roster. Kelly will have to go back to the draft for that answer.
In the meantime, there is now a blueprint for NFL defenses to follow when playing the Eagles, especially if Foles is the QB. Use man-to-man press coverage on the Eagles receivers, who spent most of yesterday not getting open and giving Foles little in the way of options, and using the extra defender in the box to shut down LeSean McCoy and the Eagles running game.
And finally, there is this.
Philadelphia used to be a place that struck fear in NFL teams. That's when the Eagles played in Veterans Stadium. On many Sundays, teams were defeated long before they walked onto the concrete-like Astroturf surface at the Vet.
Veterans Stadium mimicked the city and its fans. It had snarl.
Lincoln Financial Field has none of that. In a word, it's cushy. Soft. So is the team that plays there.
The one that now has lost nine straight home games. That has not one a game at Lincoln Financial Field in more than a year, dating back to September a year ago.
The Eagles have questions on offense, at quarterback, and with home-field advantage.
They likely will not be answered any time soon.
One thing was answered yesterday. Nick Foles is not the answer.
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