Rich Hofmann: Will the real Eagles please stand up?

I mean, what are we to make of the Eagles?

The whole idea of a statement game is silly in the NFL at any time, but especially before Thanksgiving. The Eagles' 20-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last night defined nobody. There are too many weeks to go yet, too many unseen obstacles.

But, at the same time, how is it possible that we can know so little about this Eagles team, now 5-3 as the season reaches its midpoint? Because we really do know nothing.

"Listen, one did get away," Andy Reid said. "We lost. But it's not the end of the season, either. I understand that."

They have an explosive offense, except when they don't.

They have a cunning, clever, aggressive defense, except when they don't.

They can wallop the Giants and wallow against the Raiders. They can go bombs-away against some teams but they cannot work the ball up the field when forced to take small bites against other teams, like the Cowboys last night.

This inconsistency, bordering on schizophrenia, can be seen as a charming byproduct of the NFL of today. Or it can be seen as the maddening unpredictability of a team that is going nowhere.

Do you know which it is? Do you?

Just know: They should be better than this.

"We tripped ourselves up," defensive back Ellis Hobbs said. "That makes it hurt that much more. The problem is, one, it's a division game. Two, it's a home game. Three, with the Eastern Division known as such a tough division to win in, every game counts. We couldn't afford it, but we definitely took it on the chin."

The 2004 Eagles were 7-1 at the midway point of the season and everybody knew they were special. It did not mean they were going to get to the Super Bowl, because knowing that requires knowledge currently unavailable to normal human beings. But it meant that they were likely to go far, and to go down swinging if they went down. They just had that kind of a look to them.

That might have been the clearest picture we have ever had in the Andy Reid era.

The 2008 Eagles were 5-3 at the half-mile pole and, frankly, looked a mess, unable to function at the key moments in games. But they pulled themselves together and got as close to the Super Bowl as better Eagles teams did in 2002 and 2003. Their finish was stunning. They never looked like a championship-game team until the very end.

That might have been the murkiest picture we have ever had.

Now these 2009 Eagles are 5-3 at the midpoint. They lost to what might be the best team in the conference, New Orleans. They lost to what might be the worst team on the planet, Oakland. And now they have lost to the Cowboys, a team very much like them, a team with an eye toward social mobility, a team attempting to prove it is better than the upper middle class.

That this year's team is better than last year's team seems obvious. That these Eagles appear better equipped to deal with the vagaries of an NFL season is clear. The offensive line remains a bit of unfinished business, and that affects everything - including fourth-and-1, which bit them twice against Dallas - but the Eagles have more weapons and more ways to beat you on offense than they did last season, and it isn't even close.

DeSean Jackson. Jeremy Mac-lin. LeSean McCoy. Leonard Weaver. Brian Westbrook, when healthy. It is a deeper array of weapons than Donovan McNabb has ever had. You look at them as a group and you cannot help but feel better about this team than last year's.

On defense, the uncertainties surrounding the middle-linebacker position - and, to a degree, the free-safety position - have raised questions and concerns since the middle of the summer, since Stewart Bradley tore up a knee during a scrimmage at Lincoln Financial Field. They have mixed and matched and filled and patched. But if you take out the New Orleans game, a 48-point spanking, the Eagles had allowed 10, 14, 14, 13, 17 and 17 points before last night's game. They weren't good enough against the Cowboys, but this defense has shown plenty.

So why are they only 5-3?

And why are they so unpredictable?

"From the outside perspective, I guess it would be tough," said rookie linebacker Moise Fokou, "especially because we're on a roller coaster, kind of up and down. But we just need to buckle down and get back to playing Eagle football."

Whatever that is.

They should be better than this. You couldn't say that last year, but you can say it this year.

There are miles to go yet, but they really should be better than this.

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