Ron Borges

The Eagles have gone back to the future, but the future may not be now.

The headache that Terrell Owens became is behind them, except for the two weekends they play the Cowboys, and that means Philadelphia's fortunes have fallen back on the shoulders of quarterback Donovan McNabb, where they were when the soap opera began. McNabb is coming off a poor season of injury and controversy, but he is healthy again and looking like his old self. He'll need to be, because he'll have to again shoulder the burden of average wide receivers, a running back who is undersized and saddled with durability questions and a defense that has begun to slip.

After four straight visits to the NFC Championship game and one losing Super Bowl experience, the Eagles fell apart, or were blown apart by Owens' self-centered nonsense. Whatever the cause, the Eagles fell to 6-10, didn't win a single divisional game, scored the fewest and allowed the most points in the division. Even with the removal of Owens, there are other issues coach Andy Reid must face.

McNabb picked up some late help in the passing game when the Eagles traded with New Orleans to land wide receiver Donte Stallworth, a legitimate downfield threat. That will take some pressure off Reggie Brown, who had 43 receptions for 571 yards as a rookie but wasn't ready to be the team's No. 1 receiver yet. Stallworth's presence should open up some room in the middle for talented tight end L.J. Smith, who had 61 receptions for 682 yards last season.

Running back Brian Westbrook is extremely versatile and explosive, but he carried only 156 times last year because he hasn't been able to hold up to the pounding a full-time NFL back has to absorb. Westbrook is built like the Giants' Tiki Barber and has the same explosiveness but he hasn't shown he can handle the same workload, which means offensively everything will fall back on a quarterback who missed seven games last year with a sports hernia and entered training camp still talking about Owens. McNabb needs to worry about what his play says about him and not what Owens says about him, because only a year after being the only quarterback to throw 30 touchdown passes and fewer than 10 interceptions in a season, McNabb did not play well even before he was injured. He threw at least one interception in seven of the nine games he started and had a passer rating above 75 only four times. The reputation that comes with being a five-time Pro Bowl selection needs reinforcement and only his play can do that.

Once the Eagles could at least rely on a huge offensive line that could move people and a defense that could stop them. Age has attacked both, and they enter this season with as many questions as answers. Defensively, the Eagles' pass rush produced only 29 sacks, the fewest by the team in 25 years. Not to be outdone, the secondary had the second-most pass interference calls in the league. That's a bad combination that must be altered, or this will be another very long season.

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Philadelphia brought in free agent pass rusher Darren Howard to help and drafted massive defensive tackle Broderick Bunkley to shore up the middle. Howard had 11 sacks two years ago in New Orleans and the hope is combining him with Jevon Kearse will allow both of them to produce plays off the edge. If Bunkley stuffs the middle and gets some pressure on the quarterback as well, the secondary should be better because it has two solid young cornerbacks in Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown and very good safeties despite the fact they gave up 24 touchdown passes a year ago.

Hot seat
Center Jamaal Jackson. He replaces steady and underrated Hank Fraley, who was traded to Cleveland after the final pre-season game.

Fraley missed eight games due to a shoulder injury last season, and in his absence Jackson surfaced as a much bigger and younger replacement. J

Overheard
The Eagles coaching staff hoped to have two new linebackers starting by the fall, but things didn't work out. At least not yet. Normally that kind of turnover isn't what coordinator Jim Johnson would like, but the play of Dhani Jones and Keith Adams on the outside was so poor last season, he was hoping rookie Chris Gocong and untested Matt McCoy or Greg Richmond could replace them. McCoy has stepped into Adams' old spot, but neither Gocong nor former Eagle Shawn Barber, who is well past his prime and was brought in as free-agent insurance, were able to unseat Jones. For that to happen Gocong had to make a rapid conversion from being a Division 1-AA defensive end to an NFL outside linebacker and one summer wasn't enough time.

Outlook
The offense still lacks weapons but more importantly the defense is not what it once was. Of all the issues on defense, chief among them are the weakness at outside linebacker and an unproven pass rush that caused the secondary to get toasted. What has to be reversed somehow is the basic goal of defense: keeping opponents out of the end zone. Two years ago, when they went to the Super Bowl, the Eagles' defense was second in the league in fewest points allowed. Last year it was 27th. They can't blame that on Owens.

Prediction
Fourth.

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