Eagles Report Card: From bad to worse in fifth straight loss

For all intents and purposes, the Philadelphia Eagles’ season ended on Sunday when they lost to the Dallas Cowboys 38-23 and fell to 3-6. And it’s not the loss as much as how it came about that defined this game and, really, the entire season.

The offense couldn’t score enough points and actually handed the Cowboys 14 of them. The defense couldn’t come up with stops when it needed them most and also failed to come up with big plays. And special teams gave up a long return for a TD and did nothing positive the entire game.

Plus, the Eagles lost quarterback Michael Vick because of a concussion and had to go with rookie Nick Foles -- and we’ll leave it up to you to decide whether that’s good or bad for the Eagles.

But it doesn’t really matter anymore, because time is running out on the Eagles’ season and on Andy Reid’s tenure as head coach.

Offense: D

Foles didn’t play badly for a rookie getting thrown into his first NFL game with almost no preparation, but turnovers are turnovers and he made two of them -- on an interception and a fumble -- that gave Dallas 14 points. RB LeSean McCoy, the Eagles’ best player, was a non-factor with just 16 carries, and once again the offensive line was terrible, especially LT Demetress Bell, who was overmatched going against Cowboys All-Pro linebacker DeMarcus Ware. As usual, the offense made a couple of nice plays but couldn’t do it consistently. As it’s happened so many times this season, the bad outweighed the good. Last game’s grade: D

Defense: C

It has become a familiar story for this unit -- it plays well much of the time, but not when it really counts. The Eagles finally put some serious heat on the quarterback, recording a season-high three sacks, although none of them came from high-priced DEs Jason Babin and Trent Cole. And they only gave up 17 points -- Dallas scored 21 points on turnovers and a long punt return. But once again the Eagles’ defense failed to come up with a turnover -- they have just two interceptions in their last seven games -- and a mark of a good defense is taking the ball away from the other team. Getting pressure on the QB is supposed to create turnovers, and the Eagles continue to be weak in this all-important category. Last game’s grade: D

Special teams: F

This group rarely has an impact on a game, but they did this week, for all the wrong reasons. The biggest gaffe, of course, was allowing the Cowboys’ Dwayne Harris to return a punt 78 yards for a touchdown, a play that broke a 17-17 tie and seemed to suck the life out of the Eagles. Harris was hardly touched as the Cowboys set up a wall of blockers along the sideline, which is the most basic of all return plays, and the Eagles did little to stop it. But it wasn’t just that back-breaking play that earned these guys such a bad grade. The return game was impotent again (the Eagles averaged 4.0 yards per punt return and 18.8 yards per kickoff return) and kicker Alex Henery missed an extra point. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about this unit on Sunday. Last week’s grade: B

Coaching: D

The Eagles continue to make boneheaded mistakes, like bad turnovers and stupid penalties, and that’s a direct result of coaching. And, once again, Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg failed to make the best use of their best player, running back LeSean McCoy. He carried the ball just 16 times, despite averaging 5.1 yards per carry, and the coaches can’t use the excuse they had to pass to catch up, because the game was tied in the fourth quarter. And any chance the Eagles had of pulling this one out disappeared when rookie QB Nick Foles committed two turnovers that the Cowboys turned into touchdowns. It was Reid’s decision to go with a rookie who has never played in an NFL game as his only backup to Mike Vick, even though Trent Edwards -- who was inactive again -- has played in 37 NFL games and would have probably taken better care of the ball and given the Eagles a better chance to win. Last week’s grade: D

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the Philadelphia Eagles from blogger Kevin Noonan, follow @CBSEagles.