LANDOVER, Md. – Turn off the searchlights.
No superhero is coming down from the skies to rescue these Eagles. No miracle is coming along to save Andy Reid and his dreadful football team.
At this point, Reid can only hope the Mayans were right and the world ends before the regular season.
It has gone beyond embarrassing, past sad and is on the way to scary. It is bad enough the present is tarnishing Reid's past accomplishments as a head coach. But now we've reached the stage where the present dysfunction is also threatening the future.
With less than two minutes to play in a 31-6 humiliation, the team's best offensive player went down with a concussion. Now LeSean McCoy's health and career are subject to the uncertainties of a brain injury.
Reid's explanation, that he was trying to come back and win an already lost game, was more an insult to the media for asking than a rational thought process.
But we've seen him lost in the fog of war along the sideline before. The bigger threat to the Eagles beyond this season was the potential damage done to rookie quarterback Nick Foles' development. The third-round pick made his first career start behind an offensive line that aspires to being patchwork, then was asked to throw 51 times.
On one memorable occasion, Reid and co-conspirator Marty Mornhinweg had Foles trying to convert a third-and-long without McCoy or DeSean Jackson on the field. Washington was not outsmarted.
When it was over, Foles talked about taking positives and learning from a poor performance. It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than anyone else. A few more weeks of this and Foles' confidence could be completely shot. In the bigger picture, it's going to be difficult to get any kind of read on the kid's ability to be a franchise QB.
The injuries along the line are obviously not Reid's, or anyone's, fault. But the situation is markedly worse because of decisions Reid has made.
Danny Watkins, a head-scratching first-round pick in 2011, was healthy enough to dress but not to start at right guard. That spot was taken by Jake Scott, a veteran who was signed off the street just six days earlier. The right tackle slot was manned by Dennis Kelly, who had played guard the last couple of weeks. That's because tackle Demetress Bell, the guy signed for millions of dollars in the offseason, just can't play.
Or can he? Since Reid brought in Howard Mudd to teach his unorthodox techniques, you have to grade every offensive lineman on a curve. Three guys who couldn't play for Mudd - center A.Q. Shipley, guard Mike McGlynn, and tackle Winston Justice - are regulars for the Indianapolis Colts. They've been entrusted with the job of protecting Andrew Luck, and their team is 6-4.
"Obviously," Reid said, "we have some kids. The guys who are in are expected to play and do well. That's how it is. No excuses."
None are accepted. It is harder to plug backup linemen in because of the learning curve dictated by Mudd's system. And the backups aren't veterans who have been here for a few years. Guys like McGlynn and Justice make veteran money. In order to remain $20 million under the salary cap, the Eagles have gone young and cheap at the backup spots.
And now they're 3-7.
Any hope Foles would swoop in and salvage the season was lost in the stampede of rampaging Washington defenders. The kid did not have a chance out there, and the line was only part of the equation.
It certainly didn't help that guys who simply must provide support for a rookie QB - veterans like McCoy and tight end Brent Celek - made killer mistakes that led to turnovers and Washington points. A defense that has no injury excuses whatsoever continued to find new ways to come up small.
"We're 3-7," left guard Evan Mathis said. "That's our record. That's what we've put on paper. We can't sit here and claim we're better than 3-7. That's what we are."
"It makes me sick," Celek said.
He has a lot of company there. Turn off the searchlights? Come to think of it, turn off all the lights. This is impossible to watch.