By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
What happens when a team starts off the season 3-0, plays their most impressive game against a top AFC contender in the third game of that winning streak and does it all with a new defensive coordinator and rookies at quarterback and head coach? Well, it can be a mighty fall from the top.
You see, after their Week 3 dominance the Eagles were indeed soaring. Right on into the playoffs, right?
Here's the reality. The Eagles lack of experience and lack of weapons is starting to catch up with them. Three losses — all within one score — are not the result of overall poor play. They are the result of not making the necessary plays with the game on the line, losing the little battles.
That reality now has the Eagles in a tie for second in the NFC East with an uphill battle to be the playoff contenders every started crowning them to be after Week 3.
For a good long while, you couldn't pin much, if any, of this on Carson Wentz or Doug Pederson. Playcalling was modestly good, Wentz looked strong and poised. The future looked bright.
Pederson turned in his worst game on the sidelines on Sunday night in Dallas. Everything was off. Playcalling, decision-making, they even almost pulled off an Andy Reid-like clock management blunder.
For Wentz, he's had his share of bad games too. He did not look great against Minnesota. He looked average at best in Washington with defenders swarming him the entire game. But defensive pressure will make the best in the league look average.
Wentz's problem isn't one for him to solve. The more we watch the season unfold, the more we see that while the Eagles have absolutely found their quarterback, they pretty much need to fill a hole at every other offensive position.
At running back, the Eagles are relying on a 33-year-old veteran known more for his ability on screen plays than the ground game.
At wide receiver, the Eagles have a host of recently drafted hopefuls — three of them coming within the first two rounds — that cannot seem to hang on to the football. Nelson Agholor's sick of hearing about drops? Eagles fans are sick of talking about them.
At tight end, the Eagles have, well, no one. At least it feels that way. The Eagles have Zach Ertz and Brent Celek on the roster, but over the last few weeks, they have been seldom targeted, to the point where third-string tight end Trey Burton is being targeted on a crucial 3rd and 4 pass over the two veterans.
The Eagles have a bright future with Wentz. They might have a bright future with Pederson too. He's showed potential, but Sunday was a huge step back for him.
In the way Wentz was able to bounce back from struggles at home against Minnesota and deliver a strong game in Dallas, Pederson must do the same on Sunday in the Meadowlands.
The point here is that both Wentz and Pederson are not finished products by any stretch. Wentz still needs to work on footwork and passing mechanics. Pederson still needs to learn ways to make adjustments during a game and find ways to keep the offense rolling when things are going well like they were in the third quarter on Sunday night.
But with that in mind, games like Sunday night's do happen. It doesn't make it acceptable, losing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and falling in overtime when the game was in your hands, but it is going to happen to a team learning how to win as a unit.
The Eagles suffered a loss in Detroit for the same reason. If you're not careful and studious and trying to prevent all the things that can go wrong, whether through execution or decision-making, teams are ready to take a win away. It happened in Detroit and now it's happened in Dallas.
Dallas was presented with the perfect storm. Here's a rookie quarterback with an explosive rookie running back in the backfield and weapons galore on offense behind one of the best lines in the league. Dak Prescott didn't do anything spectacular on Sunday. But he hit the jackpot when he was drafted to a team in such good shape offensively.
That's where the Eagles need to get. While the defense helped allow the fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive in overtime, they held their own for so much of the game. Ezekiel Elliott was limited. Prescott was limited. Even Dez Bryant was limited, aside from a 53-yard catch and his 22-yard touchdown catch in the fourth.
But the Eagles had a chance to stomp the throat of the Cowboys and didn't. They played too conservative for their own good, quite possibly because they don't have a player running routes or carrying the ball that is dynamic enough to have Pederson do something radical.
So what does this mean? The Eagles are still a work in progress. The last four weeks have shown it clearly. But the narrative could have, and possibly should be, a lot different had the Eagles taken a chance with another long field goal or changed the play or had more weapons for Wentz.
