Eagles again collapse late, fall to 49ers

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They dont have any answers. None of them. None of the coaches, none of the players, nobody.If I had an answer, Id be telling somebody, Jason Babin said. We cant use the same excuses every week.It happened again. Another fourth-quarter lead, another fourth-quarter collapse, and the Eagles once-promising season is now on the precipice of disaster after a shocking 24-23 loss to a 49ers team that arrived at the Linc ranked 32nd in the league in offense.The loss was the Eagles first in 26 years when they led by 20 or more points in the second half.The Eagles led by 17 points at halftime before allowing the NFLs 32nd-ranked offense 289 second-half yards and TD drives of 77, 77 and 80 yards. Absolutely terrible job by myself and my football team today, head coach Andy Reid said. In all areas, we were terrible today.The Niners came into the game averaging 213 yards per game. They averaged 221 per half on Sunday.The Niners had scored five offensive touchdowns all year. They scored three in the span of 19 12 minutes Sunday.The Niners hadnt netted 442 yards in a game since 2004. Against an Eagles defense stocked with big-name free agents and Pro Bowlers, they did.The Niners hadnt won a game after trailing by 17 at halftime in 31 years. They did it Sunday.Catastrophe. Disaster. Fiasco.Pick a word. Its probably not strong enough to describe what happened at Lincoln Financial Field Sunday.The Eagles are now 1-3 with a three-game losing streak. Theyve blown a fourth-quarter lead in three straight games, something that had never happened in the franchises 79-year history.Weve got our foot on their throat, weve got to finish them, Babin said. We let it off. Give them plenty of chances to fight back, score some points, andguess whatthey get the W.The Eagles have now been outscored 36-0 in their last three fourth quarters. This is the first time since the first three weeks of 1999Andy Reids first three games as head coach -- the Eagles have failed to score in three straight fourth quarters.How did it happen?The usual culprits.Terrible red-zone offense. Awful tackling. Unthinkable turnovers. Horrible run defense. Blown coverages. Not to mention a couple short Alex Henery field goal missesfrom 33 and 39 yardseither one of which would have won the game for the Eagles (see story).The Giants loss was one of the worst losses of the Andy Reid Era. And this one was way worse.The Eagles are now 1-7 in their last eight games.You cant sit on leads, Reid said. You cant do that as a football team. Thats what I did with our team here, and we lost the game.The Eagles piled up a ridiculous 513 yards of offense, 19th-most in franchise history and second-most ever in a game theyve lost.Michael Vick threw for a career-high 416 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 75 more, becoming the first player in NFL history with 400 yards passing and 75 rushing in the same game.DeSean Jackson caught six passes for 171 yards, his third career game with 170 or more yards, and Babin recorded three sacks, giving him seven this year -- most in Eagles history after four games.But all anybody will remember from this one is this: The Eagles led 23-3 early in the second half and lost. Last time they blew a 20-point second-half lead was Dec. 1, 1985, when they led the Vikings 23-0 in the fourth quarter at the Vet and lost 28-23.You cant be up 23-3 and then lose it, you know? said Nnamdi Asomugha, who struggled for a second straight game. We just cant. Even if youre not up 23-3, its the fourth quarter and were still up 23-17. We kept saying in the huddle, Its 23-17. If they dont score, we win. If they dont score, we win. They drove down and did that run down the right side and got in. Stuff like that cant happen. Its not good right now. Everybodys embarrassed.The issue is finishing games. Its not about you waiting for another person. Everybody has the talent to go out and make a play, and everybodys done it at some point. Once its time at the end of the game, if you have a lead, we have to step up as a defense and play better.The Eagles had drives to the 49ers 32-, 21-, 15- and 1-yard-line resulting in no points, thanks to a bizarre Ronnie Brown fumble at the goal line (see story), the two Henery misses and Jeremy Maclins fumble on the Eagles final offensive play with the Eagles driving toward a possible winning score.They also had drives to the 14, 14 and 15 that resulted in field goals.Thats seven drives inside the 32 that totaled nine points.The Eagles have gained 500 yards in a game 22 times in franchise history. This is only the second time theyve failed to score at least 30 points.Three straight weeks we havent been beaten, weve beaten ourselves, center Jason Kelce said. I dont care what the defense does, when you put up 513 yards, youre supposed to have more than 23 points on the board. Its getting old. It is old. Youre down in the red zone, you expect points. Its just very frustrating.If they had converted their red-zone chances into touchdowns, the Eagles would have been up 42-3 early in the middle of the third quarter.Instead it was 23-3, and when the 49ers drove 80, 77 and 77 yards for late touchdowns, the Eagles just basically let them do it.Weve got to go ahead and turn it around, rookie defensive coordinator Juan Castillo said (see story). Weve turned the tide around before. Weve been in this situation before and well get it turned around. This is a gut check for all of us. This is something that hurts everybody. That means well come out, well work, well correct the problems weve had, and well win.The Eagles brought in six Pro Bowl players this offseason. And whats it gotten them? Nothing but shattered expectations.The most frustrating thing about it is that weve got the people to do it, were just not doing it, defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins said. Maybe having this label of having so many good people is hurting us because maybe people are standing around waiting for someone else to do it. Were kind of expecting that someone else is going to come in and make the play instead of manning up and making it themselves. Its hard to say what it is right now, but whatever it is, we need to get it fixed. Since the NFL went to its current playoff format in 1990, only 21 of 144 teams (15 percent) have started out 1-3 and reached the playoffs.Only onethe 2001 Patriotshas opened up 1-3 and won the Super Bowl.In 1990 and 1995, the Eagles started out 1-3 and reached the playoffs. It can happen. It just doesnt happen very much.Obviously, we have some things to fix, Babin said. We cant use the same excuses every week. We are 1-3. This is real.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com