Heartless. Uninspired. Sloppy. Or, as Andy Reid put it in his post game press conference, “embarrassing.”

Any of these adjectives can perfectly describe the Eagles’ performance on Sunday, October 28 against the NFL’s best Atlanta Falcons, a game in which they lost 30-17.

Fresh off two heartbreaking losses the past three weeks, the Eagles were desperate for a victory to avoid a three game losing streak. But desperation seemed to be the last thing on the their mind Sunday afternoon.

The Falcons dominated the Eagles from the start, jumping out to a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter behind two touchdown passes from Penn Charter’s own, Matt Ryan. The Falcons possessed the ball for 13:02 in that first quarter, barely giving Michael Vick and the Eagles’ offense any time to respond.

Lesean “Shady” Mccoy’s two yard touchdown run halfway through the second quarter capped a 13 play, 66 yard drive that seemed to be the jolt the Birds needed to climb back into the game. But on the Falcon’s next possession, Ryan continued his aerial assault by finding star wide out Julio Jones deep down the far sideline for a 63 yard touchdown bomb. The visitors never looked back, ripping apart the Eagles’ befuddled defense and settling for field goals on their next three possessions to take a 30-10 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles salvaged a late touchdown thanks to a 7 yard pass from Vick to Mccoy, but the damage had already been done.

So who is to blame for the debacle that was Sunday’s loss? Was it the supposedly “high powered” offense that only mustered 270 yards and 17 points against the 20th ranked defense in the league? Or was it the defense and their new coordinator, Todd Bowles, who allowed 30 points (14 of which in the first 15 minutes), a 53% 3rd down conversion rate, and 392 total yards?

The Eagles don’t need another scapegoat; they need wins. But victories will not come unless this team finds that identity, that swagger that won them those games against Baltimore and New York back in September. Winning is the only cure for this three game losing steak and the only road that leads to a coveted NFC playoff berth. And that road begins in New Orleans.