Total meltdown for Eagles in loss to Ravens

BALTIMORE - That had to have been the longest bus ride of Andy Reid's life last night, up I-95 to Philadelphia, assuming the Eagles' buses actually ended up in Philadelphia, which might not be a given, with this team and this coach.

Reid told the world in his postgame news conference that he does not know the identity of his starting quarterback going forward, with a game pending Thursday at home against Arizona. He promised to get back to us on that by today.

Watching, it sure looked as if Reid fired the final bullet in his gun yesterday, and missed. You might have heard by now, he benched 10th-year starting quarterback Donovan McNabb after a terrible, two-interception second quarter, only to get a nearly identical performance from inexperienced designated successor Kevin Kolb. The Eagles ended up losing to the Baltimore Ravens and rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, 36-7, in a game the Eagles' defense dominated in the early going.

You thought an overtime tie at Cincinnati was bad? At 5-5-1 this morning, the Eagles now probably need to win all their remaining games to qualify for the postseason. That seems just a tad unlikely, whichever lucky quarterback gets to lead them forward.

"The condition this team is in right now is deplorable," said wideout Reggie Brown, who did not register a catch, on a day when the Eagles' quarterback ratings were 13.2 (McNabb) and 15.3 (Kolb). "We're not producing anything; we can't get anything going on offense, we lack consistency all around. Every facet of the game, we lack consistency out there. That's to a man."

The Eagles' only touchdown came on a kickoff return. They have not scored an offensive touchdown in 99 minutes and 29 seconds. They have one in their last 140 minutes and 30 seconds. Flacco, from Audubon, N.J., completed only 12 of 26 passes, but he probably could have played blindfolded and still beaten the Eagles.

McNabb started reasonably well, for the first time in five games, completing six of seven passes in the first quarter, for 43 yards. But with the game scoreless, first-and-10 from the Ravens' 24, Jarret Johnson eluded Tra Thomas and came up on McNabb from behind, as McNabb cocked to throw. Johnson neatly plucked the ball off McNabb's fingertips and ran it the other way.