I have not been this agitated by a sporting event in all my life. I’ve been more depressed, more heartbroken; but never this frustrated.

As a fan, I have skewed more towards the camp of continued support during the entire Reid tenure.  Between Reid and McNabb, there has been more unwarranted criticism thrown around then in any head coach/star player combo in the league. Regardless of what you think of either coach or quarterback, they have remarkable longevity as a tandem…

…oh wait. I’m sorry. Longevity is what we’re celebrating? In our case, isn’t that simply an extended period of well-chronicled failures and a woeful inadequacy to solve similar problems? By the similar, I mean exactly the same.

Donovan McNabb seems like a lovely person and a great guy to spend a day with watching football. I would hope our children play rec league sports together so I could joke with Donovan about the spot of the ball, the rebound or the goal. I bet he hosts wonderful Sunday BBQs with endless waterfalls of Chunky soup.

Andy Reid seems burdened and unhappy but I imagine that due to his shear girth and unwavering support of full mustaches, he has enjoyed good times in the past. He does a number of things very well, including earning the respect of his players and handling himself incredibly professionally at all times–in spite of a challenging personal situation that nobody would have begrudged him leaving the NFL to handle. But this is unmistakeably a business. A very big business at that. And what ruins the business of an NFL team?

When you run into the same exact problem week after week after week…

And your fans literally have NO clue which team will show up on Sunday…

And your coach believes it is a mandatory rule to use at least one timeout in each quarter of the game…

And your team gets a REAL, Pro-Bowl Caliber Fullback, yet refuses to use him to block under any circumstances…

And the man calling your plays is the same guy who opted for the WIND in the overtime coin toss…

And that same man calling your plays also declined a penalty in the same sudden death overtime that would have GIVEN HIS TEAM THE BALL! Yes. Let that sink in…

(This man was subsequently fired by the Detroit Lions…)

And your $57 million cornerback doesn’t know how to tackle…

And your $47 million free agent tackle gets straight benched in Week 2…

And his brother is a legitimate candidate for a Psych ward…

And 3rd and 1 feels longer than 4th and 26…

And you almost forget Michael Vick is on the team…

And your entire fan-base sincerely believes–mind you with conviction–that the presence of a 36-year old safety who is addicted to Wolverine would render all of the above obsolete.

The Gold Standard in what exactly? Steadfastly refusing to recognize problems that have existed as long as the current regime has been in place? When will the stubbornness end? There are no longer excuses to make about the personnel. It is deep enough to overcome the injuries. It is talented enough to go toe-to-toe with almost anyone in the league. Yet every week, the same thing. Today, they knew coming into the game that they were shorthanded on the O-line, yet they ran the ball 13 times against 56 passes. 13 times. They had nearly two and half times as many yards in penalties (70) as they did in rushing (29). That’s astounding, but far from unusual in these parts.

Case and point. Thom Brennaman was literally taken aback when the Eagles handed the ball off today. You could have told him that Tom Brady retired today, effective immediately, and joined the professional Bass Fishing tour. He likely wouldn’t have reacted much differently.

Eldra Buckley was given the ball on 3rd and Goal from the 1-yard line. Eldra Buckley carried one time today. That was it. This is an Eagles team that scored 9 points in a loss to Oakland. The same Oakland who lost the previous week 44-7 to New York. Said Antonio Pierce of that game, “We’re playing [the Raiders] and, honestly, it felt like a scrimmage, like a practice”. A week after the Eagles win, those Raiders, buoyed with new found confidence in their abilities promptly lost 38-0. At home. To the now 4-5 Jets.

I could go on until I broke the keyboard, but I can say with authority I would rather see them change the coaching staff and go 5-11 or 6-10 competing every game with intensity and preparedness for multiple situations than to have to suffer through another agonizing late-season roller coaster ride. I’m fed up with the tease and I’m fed up feeling like every Sunday is my personal version of Groundhog Day. That’s it. That’s all.