Team's flaws were always plain to see

If you're an Eagles fan staring at a 1-3 team after an offseason full of hope, here's the most maddening thing: You could see the biggest problems coming for months.

The flaws that have plagued the Birds through their three-game slide are not surprises. They did not arise out of bad luck. They are vulnerabilities identified in July and August that went unaddressed and blew up in the Eagles' faces through the first quarter of the season.

Let's run through them:

The defense is awful in the second half. The Eagles have wasted three straight second-half leads, including dropping a 20-point edge against a 49ers team that was last in the NFL in yards per game before Sunday. They have allowed 60 second-half points in four games.

When you make your offensive line coach your defensive coordinator, it's not that hard to predict struggles as offenses adjust and the defense has to react. Andy Reid assured us that his plan wasn't crazy. Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo told us he would make it work through effort. It hasn't, yet.

The defense is getting run on. It didn't take long for concerns to arise that if you use a scheme in which your front four is only concerned with rushing the quarterback, and it is leaving huge gaps that let offensive linemen run free at the linebackers, and your linebackers are not particularly talented or experienced, you will be weak against the run.

Add in a thin safety corps and you compound the run defense mess. (This is where safety Quintin Mikell, allowed to walk as a free agent, might have helped. He was solid against the run.)

Reporters were asking Reid about the "wide-nine" front and run defense as early as the March owners meetings, and again in training camp, and again in the preseason. This isn't to praise reporters but to point out that if media members can decipher this weakness, what did you think an ex-NFL quarterback such as Jim Harbaugh would do?

How telling is it that with a third-and-7 and the game on the line the 49ers chose to run at the Eagles - and picked up the first down with a 14-yard gain?

That run by Kendall Hunter was a mirror of what the Giants did several times: run directly at the defensive end who is racing at the quarterback and easily trapped.

The rookie kicker might not be ready for prime time. When the Eagles drafted Alex Henery, his college career sounded so good that you thought it might work. But there was always going to be immense pressure on a rookie joining a team with Super Bowl aspirations, and that couldn't be measured at Lehigh. Sure enough, Henery's first two kicks that had a significant influence on the game were misses.

Maybe Henery ends up being great, but the Eagles already have three losses. They can't afford many more coming on the kicker's foot as he gets comfortable.

Of course, there are some problems no one foresaw. Nnamdi Asomugha came with a reputation that has exceeded his play so far. Whatever scheme Castillo is using, Asomugha has been in position to make plays and hasn't done it.

Maybe the Eagles thought - fairly - that every team has its weaknesses and that theirs were manageable. After all, they do have immense talent at certain positions. If Reid can squeeze more from his stars, maybe he overcomes his team's inherent problems.

The Eagles face two tough road games, but both can be had. In fact, the Eagles have been in position to win every game so far. If they go into their week 7 bye at 3-3 or 2-4, the playoffs are still a possibility with some luck and improvement.

But that first requires fixing some glaring weaknesses.

On Monday, Reid said he was reevaluating "everything" and while he ruled out coaching changes, he was tellingly evasive when it came to personnel moves or scheme changes.

"We look at everything every week," Reid said. "It's no different this week."

Perhaps the "wide-nine" setup for the front four is modified, because it's hard to see a major talent influx at linebacker or safety. Great players are not still free agents four weeks into an NFL season. Ray Lewis isn't walking through the door.

Reid noted on his WIP radio show that there is "flexibility" within each scheme. But in his Monday news conference he downplayed the widespread criticism that his linebackers aren't up to their big responsibilities.

His big task, then, is to find a way to make it work. Fast.

But, of course, it was Reid who chose to promote Castillo and remake the offensive and defensive lines into what they are now. It's on him to work his way out of a mess of his own creation.