There are a lot of reasons that the Philadelphia Eagles have gone from a playoff team to an afterthought over the span of less than a year.  The most obvious one is the inability of Andy Reid to focus on football with his sons’ drug issues, with Donovan McNabb coming back from a serious knee injury (too quickly, some might argue) coming in a close second.  But those two things are both an easy copout to avoid facing a conclusion that the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans don’t want to face:  This team is not very good. And it all starts with years of poor drafting and free-agent signings.

There have been some bright spots.  Patterson and Bunkley may have taken a while to develop, but the Eagles’ vastly improved run defense (Down to 92 yards allowed per game from 136 a year ago) has made it worth the wait.  Shawn Andrews has silenced the criticism that accompanied the Eagles trading up to get him in the 2004 draft, and Todd Herremans and Trent Cole have been flat-out steals (4th & 5th  rounds,  respectively, in 2005).  And you can’t ignore the 2002 draft, either, which brought the Eagles four solid starters in Sheppard, Brown, Westbrook, and the since-departed Michael Lewis. However, other than what was written in this paragraph, it is very difficult to find many positives when it comes to personnel decisions in recent years.

Consider the following:

-        Barry Gardner, Bobbie Williams, Todd Pinkston, Quentin Caver, Matt McCoy. What do these guys have in common? All second-round picks who are no longer with the team due to ineffectiveness.  Only Pinkston held a starting role for more than one year (Considering his competition, that isn’t saying much. More on that later.)

-        The 2003-2004 NFL drafts. They had 16 picks. Three are starters (LJ Smith, Shawn Andrews, and Thomas Tapeh), two are backups (Ware (for AZ), JR Reed). The other 11 have not made much of a contribution with the Eagles or anywhere else. That’s 16 picks, 11 of which have become useless.

-        Sean Considine. He is Mark Simoneau all over again. Always in the right place, always fails to make the play.  Prone to giving up touchdowns at inopportune times because his back was turned to the play.

-        Jevon Kearse. Still living off his ridiculous rookie year with the Titans. While he hasn’t been a complete disaster, you would expect more than a season-high of eight sacks from the highest-paid DE in league history at the time. Trent Cole has become everything they thought they were getting from Kearse.

-        The 70/30 or 60/40 pass/run ratio. This might have worked back when no one could catch McNabb and he was willing to run. Now, it's a disaster waiting to happen.

-        Jerome McDougle. Undersized, unmotivated, from an overrated college program. Huge waste of money. Will be remembered for two things: Nearly ending Eli Manning’s career before it began, and kicking a flag to give the Tampa Bay Buccaneers an extra 15 yards. Oh, yeah. He also got shot.

-        Letting Stallworth go. Imagine being able to have Curtis in the slot where he belongs, and letting Brown flourish in a true #2 role. Stallworth certainly didn’t play on the level of Owens but he proved he could be a #1 receiver. Now, he is a luxury on the Patriots whereas he was a necessity for the Eagles. And while we’re on the subject…

-        ...the lack of talent at the WR position almost seems intentional at this point. Another classic example of Reid and the FO either wanting to win their way or not win at all.  For a team that loves to pass, Reid/Heckert (And Modrak before that) cannot evaluate WR talent. While Reggie Brown has struggled mightily this year, he has been the best Eagle receiver to come out of the draft in the Reid era. (Na Brown, Troy Smith, Todd Pinkston, Gari Scott, Freddie Mitchell, Freddie Milons, Billy McMullen, Jason Avant, Jeremy Bloom are the others. You could throw a dart blindfolded and have more success.)

To make matters worse, what has really done the Eagles in is that the NFC East has caught up to them. Remember the days of 2000-2003 when the Eagles would take to the field against Dave Campo and Steve Spurrier and whatever stiff they put under center? Well, those days are long gone. Dallas has become a powerhouse again with Tony Romo under center (Now and for the next six years) and while Jason Campbell is nothing special (yet), he is a far cry from the days when Eagle fans would pen in a ‘W’ next to the two Redskins games each year that Tony Banks, Danny Wuerffel, and Patrick Ramsey were under center. And let’s not forget the Giants, who have become surprise contenders in the NFC East under the suddenly serene Tom Coughlin.  Add these all up and you get a pretty clear conclusion:

Unless things change, the Eagles’ reign of NFC East supremacy is over.