Remember when the Eagles cruised past the Falcons fairly effortlessly on opening day, the defense looked like an elite unit, Jalen Hurts looked like a smart and exciting quarterback, and  Nick Sirianni appeared to be a fresh creative mind? That was 17 days ago, but it feels like 17 years ago. 

What looked like a promising team so recently is once again an abject mess with a laundry list of problems. In a Monday Night beatdown by the Cowboys, Hurts had his worst game as an Eagle, the offensive line became extremely banged up for the umpteenth time, the front seven got rolled over by Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard (along with the tight ends in the passing game), and Sirianni "constructed" what was legitimately one of the worst offensive gameplans I have ever seen. The Cowboys were missing six defensive starters, including their best defensive player (and only good defensive lineman) in Demarcus Lawrence, and the Eagles handed it off to their running backs THREE (3!) times the entire game - two by Miles Sanders and one by Kenny Gainwell. By comparison, Super Bowl 52 hero Corey Clement (now on the Cowboys) had three carries on their last drive of the game just to chew clock. Sirianni essentially said after the game that the game plan was to win a shootout against a team they figured was going to score a lot of points, which is just nonsensical. You contain potent offenses by controlling the ball and winning time of possession so that they have less time to do damage, not by trying to score a touchdown in 30 seconds every possession and letting them wear down your defense. Regardless of Sirianni's intentions, Miles Sanders is too good of a player to receive two carries and five total touches the entire game. He is the best offensive player on the team and you have a young quarterback with clear throwing limitations. The offense should be running through him, especially against a team with a weak and decimated front seven.

Of course, Hurts and Sirianni are both inexperienced, and this was always viewed as a rebuilding year, but neither has inspired much confidence at all recently. Sirianni probably has a decent leash, but considering the Eagles might have some pretty ridiculous draft capital this offseason, Hurts needs to turn it around, and soon, or Howie Roseman will undoubtedly find an alternative himself.

Who Wins?

In the meantime, the Eagles will look to pull off what would likely need to be a miracle on a short week against a Chiefs team that really needs a win after a wild upset by the Chargers last week. I'm sure most people know what the Chiefs are about. They have arguably the best quarterback in the league (Patrick Mahomes), a top three receiver with absurd speed (Tyreek Hill), and the clear cut best tight end (Travis Kelce), as well a pair of very talented pass rushers (Chris Jones and Frank Clark). Andy Reid's offense is the king of explosive plays, and this is definitely not a team you want to try and have a shootout with. Hopefully Sirianni has a more sensible gameplan going into this game or it will once again get ugly fast. Whether he does or not, however, I'm not picking this team in its current state against a desperate Kansas City, and I'm probably not picking them against anyone until they show any signs of righting this ship in the slightest.

Chiefs 37, Eagles 10

Photo: David Maialetti/Philadelphia Inquirer