MINNEAPOLIS _ The Eagles went into full crisis mode on Sunday in U.S. Bank Field as their defense was picked completely apart by the Vikings in the first of a three-game road stretch that could decide their season.
With the 38-20 loss, the Eagles dropped to 3-3 on the season and while that's not good itself, the way they lost the game was even more disturbing. The defense has been patched together all season, but for the most part the patches held. On Sunday, they were ripped away by Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins, with cornerback Rasul Douglas the biggest victim, but plenty of blame to go around.
While the offense wasn't great, it was good enough to win the game if the defense had shown up at all. That wasn't the case, and now the front office and coaching staff have some difficult decisions. They first have to answer whether the season is capable of being saved with one or two moves � which might cost future draft picks and other assets � or if they just try to gut it out and hope cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills can eventually get back on the field to steady a horrid pass defense.
It's hard to overstate the importance of Sunday's game for the Eagles' postseason hopes as they began a three-game road stretch against good teams. Getting some momentum heading into games against Dallas and Buffalo was a big deal, but just avoiding a slide back to .500 was even more important.
At the moment, it looks like the division race with the Cowboys will last all season and every win, or loss, will determine whether the Eagles can at least get one home playoff game. Starting off the road swing with a deflating loss was the worst possible outcome.
One thing that was apparent quickly was there was no carryover from the easy win over the dreadful New York Jets the week before. Both sides of the ball were sharp in that game and the offense even seemed to shake its proclivity for slow starts, as they went out to a 14-0 first quarter lead.
It was the same Eagles on the field in U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, but it sure wasn't the Jets on the other side of the line. There was only so much the offense could do in the opening quarter against the Vikings because it only ran seven plays and Carson Wentz attempted just one pass.
The story of the beginning of the game wasn't that the offense was ineffectual, but that the defense could not hand it the ball. Minnesota took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards, chewing up half of the quarter, before quarterback Kirk Cousins worked on cornerback Sidney Jones, just back from injury, for the first Minnesota touchdown.
That was the template as the Vikes went out to what would become a 24-3 lead. Cousins got time to throw against the Eagles' defensive line and he twice caught Douglas in single coverage on wide receiver Stefon Diggs for long touchdowns.
The Eagles almost climbed back from that hole, however, which is a tribute to their fight, but they weren't helped by some questionable coaching from Doug Pederson and ultimately, the defense failed them again.
The score was narrowed to 24-20 midway through the third quarter, but at the very point when momentum could have completely reversed, the defense allowed Cousins to take Minnesota 75 yards to reclaim it. That drive ended with a back of the endzone catch by Diggs, matched up that time against reserve cornerback Craig James.
After that, the Vikings began to pound on Carson Wentz, harassing him and sacking him and ignoring the non-existent Eagles running game. When the Vikings went on one more touchdown drive and then the Eagles gave the ball back on a Zach Ertz downfield fumble, the game was over.
It could be that the season is being somewhat prematurely clipped short, too. Minnesota showed the rest of the league exactly where the Eagles are vulnerable. The defense bulked up by staying in its base alignment for much of the early part of the game, bottling up the Vikings' run game but daring Cousins to beat them with his arm. Unfortunately, he showed how easily that can be done.
A small consequence could be the end of Rasul Douglas' tenuous hold on a starting position, but that isn't a remedy for all that ails the defense. The fact is there might not be one, and if the three-game road stretch continues as it began, and the Eagles are 3-5 as they exit it, the season could be over before November gets here.
