Tuck: Eagles have talent but need chemistry

Few expected the Giants, entering the season with widespread defensive injuries and a thoroughly depleted secondary, to be 6-2 after eight weeks. Even fewer expected the Eagles, coming off of arguably the best free agency period ever, to be 3-5.

But we are where we are, says Justin Tuck, because chemistry outweighs talent in the NFL.

You can have all the talent in the world, if youre not out there playing as one, if youre just 11 individuals, youre not gonna beat anybody in this league, Tuck told the Jim Rome Show Tuesday.

Nobody can question how talented they are, nobody can question how good of a coach Andy Reid is. Everybody knows that. You need more than talent in this league, because every team has talent.

Tuck is right that the Eagles talent cannot be called into question, even if the fanbase is tired of hearing that the Eagles only opponent is themselves. But despite his opinion, many have faulted Reid for the team not coming close to its lofty expectations.

I think everybody expected a little bit more of the Eagles, Tuck said. I think with the talent they have on their football team, they can be one of the most dangerous teams in the league. When they put it together, the thing I was quoted saying is, You cant buy championships. And what I meant by that is, youve got to build chemistry.

The Eagles have exactly 12 days to build chemistry. If they dont beat a likely Kevin Kolb-less Cardinals team Sunday and Tucks Giants the following week, the free agent experiment will have miserably failed in year one.