They added the bubbling cesspool that used to be Washington's proud football team to their trophy collection last night. It was a game every bit as sloppy and uninspired as the two teams' recent resumes suggested it would be.

The final gun signaled the end of the gift portion of the Eagles' mystifyingly generous 2009 schedule. It was a gift they didn't quite squander, but their failure to take full advantage figures to haunt them as they begin games against genuine NFL teams on Sunday.

The Eagles have played six games. Only one of their opponents, the New Orleans Saints, can be considered a legitimate playoff contender. The other five have ranged from patsies to punch lines, from hopeless to helpless. All five have gotten to the end of October with two or fewer wins.

Now comes the meat of the schedule: back-to-back home games against the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, followed by road games in San Diego and Chicago. Down the line, there will be games against Atlanta and Denver, plus road games against the Giants and Cowboys.

The Eagles needed to be 5-1 going into this. They are 4-2 because of that abomination in Oakland last weekend, a loss that looked even more embarrassing after the New York Jets thrashed the Raiders on Sunday by doing what Andy Reid would not - running the football.

Worse, the Eagles just don't look particularly impressive. Under Reid, they have stumbled in the early parts of seasons and rallied to make the playoffs. But those stumbles were usually against good teams and showed at least a glimmer of what the Eagles would be able to do.

In fairness, there has already been enough injury attrition to provide an excuse for some of this. The offensive line, where continuity is most important, has been especially hard hit. The loss of the top two middle linebackers on the depth chart would mess with any team's preseason plans.

The scary looking concussion that forced Brian Westbrook out of this game figures to limit his availability for the toughest stretch of the schedule. Given the NFL's focus on concussions and their aftermath, it would be foolhardy for Westbrook to rush back.

"We're not going to put him at risk," Reid said.

But injuries don't tell the full tale. This team is just missing something.

Sure, the offensive line is patched together. But that was Jason Peters, the expensive replacement for Tra Thomas at left tackle, who lay down and let the 300-pound Cornelius Griffin crash full-speed into Donovan McNabb's spine.

The Eagles' offense remains out of sync and unfocused. The line play is surely part of that. Westbrook's various ailments can't help matters. He was the focal point of this thing for long enough that his absence or decline is bound to cause a disruption. Rookies Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy are being asked to carry a lot of the load.

"It was a hit-and-miss offense, I thought," Reid said.

The hits were DeSean Jackson's two big plays, a breathtaking end-around run on the Eagles' first drive and a 57-yard touchdown pass. Otherwise, the Eagles' only touchdown came on Will Witherspoon's interception return. Coming off that disaster in Oakland, this is not especially reassuring.

Like most coaches, Reid wasn't looking for style points. A win is a win is a win.

"I'm trying to feel like we just won a game here," he said after a series of postgame questions that seemed less than celebratory. "Not a lot of teams have scored 27 points against this team."

True, but Washington - after opening with the Giants - also has played the likes of winless Tampa Bay, hapless Kansas City, punchless Detroit, and woebegone St. Louis and Carolina. It's not like the 'Skins have kept Tom Brady and Peyton Manning out of the end zone.

Similarly, the Eagles defense can't really be judged until it faces another NFL-caliber quarterback. Eli Manning will be the first since Drew Brees picked the Eagles apart at the Linc in Week 2. Since then, the opponents have pretty much stopped themselves.

It is not out of the question, of course, that this gift-wrapped early schedule has backfired a bit on the Eagles. They have played down to the level of bad opponents in past years, and these have been worse than most.

And it is not out of the question that Reid calculated his team could get through the early season without exposing too much of its playbook. The lameness of this Michael Vick/Wildcat stuff would actually make sense if it turned out to be a deliberate ploy. Maybe the plan is to unleash hell on the Giants and Cowboys.

Maybe. So far, the only real punishment has been that endured by the fans who watched this team play bad games against very bad teams.