Bob Ford | Troubled times demand a bold response from Reid

If the coach is the same, and the binders are the same, then the problem is probably the players. This is not speculation. This is process of elimination, and if the process goes much further, the Eagles are going to be eliminated awfully quickly.

Reid pulled the binder from the shelf that is labeled, "What To Do If You Are 2-4," and on the first page was this instruction: "Make them come in on their day off to watch film right away. This will get their attention."

And so it was. The players did not spend Monday waxing their Escalades or making January vacation plans for Playa del Nacho Grande. They went into the NovaCare Complex to watch a rocky, horrific performance against the Chicago Bears and to, according to Reid, get things fixed once and for all.

"There's a problem and we need to make sure we fix it. I don't want it to sit another day or two days," Reid said. "I want to make sure we get in, and we get the corrections that we need to get in so that the fellows can move on to Minnesota."

And don't ask what happens if they don't get to the airport on time.

That was the good news yesterday. Everyone came in and the mistakes were viewed on film and the corrections were dispensed.

The only remaining problem is that if the players were able to do things the right way, they would have done so in the game. You can show your cocker spaniel the mistakes it made on a physics test (the principle of least action should not take place up on the couch, even if no one is home, for instance), but that does not mean the next score will be any higher.

That might be the scary truth about the Eagles at the moment: They are playing as well as they can. Reid can make them come in Monday, Tuesday and twice on Wednesday, but it guarantees nothing.

Reid disagrees, naturally. He repeated yesterday his contention that the team is just a whisker away from a winning streak.

"There are some things we need to work on, obviously. We are very close to getting those worked out," he said. "We're not the only team that's been in this situation and turned things around and had a successful season."

Perhaps, but the team he assembled might need more than its own natural ability to win football games. Natural ability and a strict hewing to the Way-We-Do-Things-Around-Here have left them in last place.

Reid isn't going to like this one, but he needs to do things differently. He needs to shake it up in a way far more tangible than simply making the players reschedule their pedicures.

The Eagles have to stop playing as if they have the best team and the best record in the conference. Being conservative is fine when that is the case. Otherwise, you have to roll the dice.

For instance, the Eagles kicked away from Devin Hester on Sunday and, yes, they kept him from returning the football for a touchdown. They also kept him from fumbling the football, which he does with greater frequency.

Given the option - their choice set up the Bears with great field position most of the day - I would rather have told my coverage teams: "There's Devin Hester. Go down and knock the bejesus out of him." Maybe I get beaten, but I get beaten playing to win, not playing to avoid losing.

Another instance, that awful soft defense on the final drive, which put Brian Griese in control of the outcome. The Eagles didn't try to stop Griese. They just bet that he would make a mistake or run out of time. Lose because the other guy beats you, not because he can throw a bunch of 12-yard out patterns.

If anything is clear after six games, it is this: The Eagles aren't good enough to let the game just happen. They have to step out of character and make things happen.

Reid isn't great with change, but it's worth a try. He's about to run out of binders.

at 215-854-5842 or bford@phillynews.com.

Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/bobford.