I’m trying to determine what is worse, the agony of another brutal Eagles defeat, or listening to Andy Reid try to explain it the next day.

Here’s a stunner. Reid says the loss to the Cowboys Sunday night is “on him.” And yes, he has to do a better job of putting players in position to make plays.

It probably wouldn’t hurt if he won a couple of those challenges he’s been fumbling with. Reid’s record on challenges is horrendous, and he lost two more against the Cowboys Sunday night. That was a big reason why he found himself with no timeouts left with more then nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys got the ball back with four minutes and change left in the game. One first down later, they were in the process of taking a knee, a victory assured, and another bitter loss guaranteed for Eagles fans.

The inconsistent Birds showed all the same signs that have been their
trademark: Poor clock management; inability to convert on third and short; or third down in general; a wildly erratic Donovan McNabb, who too often remains unable to hit a receiver in stride on slants, when he’s not firing the ball into the ground.

It’s at this point that you might think things are pretty dismal for the Birds. Actually, they aren’t in that bad a shape. In part because of the thoroughly mediocre nature of the NFL, they remain in the thick of the playoff hunt.

They were in much worse position last year, and they wound up one drive away from going to the Super Bowl.

So let’s not look back; let’s instead look forward.

Which brings us to Sunday, and another cross-country trip, this time to San Diego. You might remember that last time the Birds went to California, the result was not pretty. They basically failed to show up for a game in Oakland.

A repeat performance would not be a good idea. Of course, if they do, we already know the culprit.

Andy will tell us it’s on him and he has to do a better job of putting players in position to make plays.

Now if only he could actually do that, instead of just talking about it.