Eagles come up short on all fronts

Mark Sanchez is not the answer.

I'm not sure Nick Foles is either.

Now for the really bad news. Is anyone else wondering if Chip Kelly is the answer as well.

All of this is stewing in the rubble of a thoroughly disheartening loss Sunday night before a national TV audience to the hated Dallas Cowboys.

In effect, the Cowboys simply returned the favor after the Eagles tattooed them on Thanksgiving. Dallas, and their creaking quarterback Tony Romo, played that game on a very short rest after playing on Sunday night. It was a different Romo last night, who clearly decided early on that Bradley Fletcher and the rest of the Eagles' secondary was no match for Dez Bryant, who hauled in three TD passes.

The game got off to an ominous start when, for some reason, the Eagles return men decided to let the short kickoff drop between them, giving the Cowboys the ball inside the Eagles 20-yard line.

They cashed that into a TD and the trouble mounted from there.

Chip Kelly's uptempo offense hurried into a 3 and out, putting the Eagles defense right back on the field.

Mark Sanchez reinforced last night that he is not the Eagles' answer at quarterback. He was off-target right from the start, constantly throwing high in the first half, then just flat missing wide-open receivers in the second half.

The Eagles found themselves down 21-0 and on the verge of being blown out of Lincoln Financial Field when an odd thing. Suddenly the Birds reeled off 24 unanswered points to take the lead, and raise the specter of another epic December collapse by Romo and the Cowboys.

But the 'Boys had a secret weapon - the Eagles secondary.

Romo went back to work, finding receivers again and again, leading the Cowboys to two scoring drives to put the game away.

Looking for something - anything - to vent their wrath at, many Eagles fans were left to contemplate the sight of New Jersey Governor and Presidential hopeful Chris Christie high-fiving folks in the box of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

The governor has never made it a secret that he likes Dallas, but I'm not sure who told him it would be a good idea to be seen yukking it up with Jones and his cronies.

That's not the Eagles' real problem this morning.

This is: There are in imminent danger of not making the playoffs. If the Cowboys can beat the Colts next weekend in Dallas, the Birds' odds will nosedive.

But there is also this: Chip Kelly does something very well. He rarely gets beat by a team he is expected to defeat.

The Eagles feast on lesser opponents. The problem occurs when Kelly and the Eagles play winning teams. That's when Chip Kelly fails to get it done. Take away the Thanksgiving game vs. the Cowboys. The Birds went to Arizona and San Francisco and lost both. They got blown out in Green Bay. Then, last night they came up short in a crucial game with first place on the line in the rematch with Dallas.

Not helping matters is Sanchez. He's just not good enough. The problem is I'm not sure Nick Foles is either.

The real quarterback for Chip Kelly and this team likely is not even on this roster.

That's where we sit this morning.

Just not good enough.

On a lot of fronts.

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