The Eagles blew out teams on their way to a Super Bowl victory last season. Five games into their title defense in 2018, they are far removed from the consistent, complete team they were a year ago.
Philadelphia on Sunday lost for the third time in four weeks, this time at home in an NFC title game rematch against Minnesota. Every game has been decided by six points are fewer, and the Eagles were lucky to escape with victories over the Falcons in Week 1 and the Colts in Week 3.
Dysfunctional. Messy. Sloppy. Funky. Slumping. Mistake-filled. Self-inflicted. Those are some of the adjectives coming out of Philadelphia as things like penalties and giveaways continue to hurt the team.
WATCH: Full Eagles vs. Vikings highlights
The good news is, with the Eagles at 2-3, there isn't too much to sweat in the NFC East this season. The Giants are buried at 1-4, and the Cowboys are a shaky 2-3. The leading Redskins, now 2-1, are likely to fade starting Monday night in New Orleans. As close as the Eagles are to winless, they are also close to being 5-0.
Beyond the 180 in turnover margin, below are five underlying reasons for the Eagles' slow start.
1. The cornerbacks have been bad
The Vikings picked on starting corners Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby with wide receivers Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs. Sidney Jones had a bad game in the slot and also hurt his ankle. All three corners have graded out poorly overall by Pro Football Focus. Per PFF, Jones was the NFL's No. 47 corner going into Week 5, while Darby was 82nd and Mills 101st.
What Thielen and Diggs did Sunday built on what he lesser Titans duo of Corey Davis and Taywan Taylor did in Week 4. The Eagles have a good front-four pass rush, but it's useless against a decisive quarterback like Kirk Cousins who sees his guys get open quickly.
Free safety Rodney McCleod (torn MCL) was lost for the season, and 33-year-old replacement Corey Graham, a big drop-off in downfield help coverage, now has a hamstring injury.
Philadelphia's No. 4 corner, Rasul Douglas, needs to play more in a prominent role. If Douglas had enough qualifying snaps for PFF, he would grade out as the league's fourth-best corner. Coach Doug Pederson has trusted his supposed top two corners, but their coverage struggles are consistent. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has to realize Mills and Darby are getting burned too much not to break them up.
2. The offensive line has underachieved
Tackles Jason Peters and Lane Johnson haven't been themselves, looking more human in pass protection and not meeting their usual high standards of run-blocking. Inside, center Jason Kelce and right guard Brandon Brooks are still great overall, but left guard has been a problem, first with Stefen Wisniewski and then with Issac Seumalo on Sunday. Peters is showing natural signs of decline at age 36 and coming off a season lost to a knee injury.
Through five games, the Eagles have given up 17 sacks (seventh most) and allowed 42 quarterback hits (second most). It's not all on the line, because QB Carson Wentz, who has been sacked 12 times in his three starts, has held the ball too long at times trying to extend plays with his legs.
The Eagles, save for one position, have the overall talent and chemistry to regroup. In terms of rushing efficiency, they have improved, and their 4.4 yards per carry average is just shy of last season's mark. So it's about staying committed to the run, getting the linemen to be more aggressive and staying out of behind-the-chains, obvious passing situations.
With some edge blocking regression, the Eagles should also be more consistent with their two tight end sets. Rookie Dallas Goedert needs to be out there as a bonus blocking asset to complement Zach Ertz. Goedert saw a healthy 59 percent of the offensive snaps Sunday but is still only at 42 percent for the season. He also is an intermediate matchup nightmare as a receiver and can help Wentz get the ball out quicker.
MORE WEEK 5: Top catches | Top runs
3. The backfield committee is finding its new legs
Jay Ajayi had been struggling to run well with his bad back before the news of him being lost for the season with a torn ACL. The Eagles were forced to give him more work as Corey Clement (ankle) and Darren Sproles (hamstring) were on the shelf with lesser injuries.
Wendell Smallwood has done a pretty good job with limited touches and should get more chances to show his juice. IN relation, Ajayi has been plodding away between the tackles in power running situations. Clement is also set to return in Week 6.
Without a healthy Sproles last season, they found the right situational combination of Ajayi, Clement and LeGarrette Blount. Clement and Sproles give them the versatility they like on goal-to-go downs in the red zone. Clement is a good finisher of drives, and Sproles still has plenty of those jitterbug qualities.
Without Ajayi, Clement and Smallwood can work out as a solid combination while they wait for Sproles to change the pace. The Eagles will be able to stop throwing 64 percent of the time and get closer to the more balanced 55 percent of last season.
4. The receiving corps has no true outside No. 2
When the Eagles lost Mike Wallace to a fractured fibula in Week 2, they had to scramble at WR. No. 1 Alshon Jeffery is back from his shoulder surgery and looking good, and although he can make big plays downfield, he's not a traditional, speedy deep threat.
The Eagles are thin at WR with Nelson Agholor, Jordan Matthews and not much else — yet another reason to deploy more of Goedert. Without Wallace, Agholor, who thrived in the slot last season, has been forced into more snaps outside, where he once looked like a first-round bust. Matthews has always been a misfit away from the slot and isn't the most reliable hands guy.
So, beyond Agholor or Matthews streaking free down the middle of the field, the Eagles have been limited in taking shots. Shelton Gibson, who made a great catch for a 48-yard gain on the perimeter with his only target against the Vikings, fits the profile and needs more snaps. If Gibson can be effective with more chances to stretch the field against single coverage away from Jeffery and Ertz, it will in turn help Agholor look more like his 2017 self playing regularly inside.
FANTASY: Week 6 WR rankings
5. Carson Wentz is adjusting to more than a new knee
Sunday's game against Minnesota was a reminder of something else Philadelphia is missing — the dream team of coaches Wentz had last year. His former QB coach, John DeFilippo, called all the right plays as the Vikings' offensive coordinator. Wentz's former OC, Frank Reich, returned to Philly earlier this season as the Colts' head coach. Those two coaches were big helps for Pederson last season in getting the most out of the QB.
The Eagles stayed within the organization to fill the roles of Reich and DeFilippo, promoting Mike Groh and Press Taylor, respectively. But it's hard to duplicate the experience their predecessors had working with variety of quarterbacks in different systems. There's always a transition period, and Wentz just recently has gotten his first game action with the new duo, in contrast to a full year with Reich and DeFilippo prior to last season.
QBs are creatures of comfort and consistency, and Wentz has experienced adjustments above and around him while also rehabbing his knee and shaking off the rust.
FANTASY: Week 6 waiver pickups
The process is a grind right now, but it can get more smooth for Wentz in a hurry for the second half of the season. The Eagles get a mini-bye after their Thursday night game against the Giants this week, and their actual bye comes after their Week 8 matchup with the Jaguars in London.
The goal should be the "real" Eagles showing up in November and December, when they have their other five division games and two huge conference games against the Saints and Rams. Another NFC East crown is in their back pocket, so it's about the big picture for the defending champions.
As bad as things seem now, the longview still looks good for Philadelphia to have a special season and get itself positioned for the playoffs.
