Woeful Eagles Remain Grounded in NFC East

Don't look now, but the NFC East is up for grabs.

Predicted by some experts to be the team to beat this season, the Philadelphia Eagles have lost four straight, are last in their division and Michael Vick leads the NFC with 7 interceptions.

The Eagles desperately must find a way to win as they visit the division-leading Washington Redskins this week. After giving the St. Louis Rams their fourth straight defeat on Oct. 2, the Redskins bye week couldn't have come at a better time.

The Redskins are ready, rested, and probably are looking to feast on Vick and his Eagles.

Philadelphia's defense needs to work all week on figuring out how to stop Washington running back Ryan Torain. Against the Rams, Torain rushed for season-high 135 yards and TD.

Washington quarterback Rex Grossman is 12th in passing in the NFC, while Vick is seventh. I don't see Grossman overpowering the Eagles in the air and if Philly can contain Torain, they could possibly win this game.

Maybe the Eagles could figure out a way to get Vick the ball more since he led his team in rushing against Buffalo with 90 yards on 5 carries.

Let's not put all the blame on Vick. He's just one guy and you've got to admire coach Andy Reid for blaming himself for the loss against the Bills.

"I'm No. 1. There's nobody to blame but me and that's how I look at it," said Reid. "I start with me and I take full responsibility. It's my football team."

Whether or not Reid and Eagles turn this season around, you've got to like a guy that can take the blame and not pass the buck. Reid didn't turn the ball over five times against Buffalo, but he takes the blame for it and that kind of coaching mentality might be the thing that keeps him employed for the rest of the season.

What I also like about Reid was his composure during his press conference after losing to Buffalo. This man is clearly not panicking.

"Listen, we're in this one game at a time, man," said Reid. "I'm not looking at playoffs ... I'm looking at one game at a time. We'll fix the problems here and get on with Washington."

When asked if his job was on the line, Reid answered:

"In the National Football League your job's on the line every week, man."

Reid didn't waste time comparing this year's team with last year's Eagles. You've got to appreciate that kind of thinking because his team is now 1-4 and cannot look back to last season.

Reid's shown that he can rally the troops and make the playoffs. At this time last year, the Eagles were 2-2, finished 10-6 but lost to Green Bay in the wild card game.

"Every year is different in the (NFL)," said Reid. "We are what we are right now and we're going to get better. We have no excuses for a thing. We've got to get better."

Unfortunately, Vick's 4 interceptions against Buffalo is unacceptable. After four games this season, Vick has more interceptions (7) than he did in all of last season. His four picks against Buffalo mark the worst of his career.

But Vick didn't make excuses, either.

"An interception is an interception," said Vick. "You just can't have them in this game."

When explaining one of his interceptions, Vick realized he shouldn't have thrown the ball and should have allowed himself to be sacked.

"That was a game changer because it was 14-7 and then it was 21-7 and we find ourselves in a hole and trying to fight our way out," said Vick. "Those things can't happen."

Is firing Reid or benching Vick the solution? Absolutely not. I believe Reid will fix his team and beat Washington and march all the way into the playoffs, as they've done before.

The Eagles are just too talented to fold and give up.

"We've just got to put it together for all four quarters and all phases of the game," said Vick.

Despite losing to Buffalo, Reid explained he liked his team's effort and you can't fault the Eagles for that.

"As the game went on, we continued to get better," said Reid. "The thing that has to change and that's obvious is the turnovers. You eliminate the turnovers and you have better results."