— Getting a new defensive coordinator installed was just the first of many steps Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid took this past week to get his team back to winning more football games than it loses — something it hasn't done since 2010.
The coach also has performed minor surgery on a leaky offensive line, handing the starting left tackle job back to King Dunlap, who had taken it from Demetress Bell in training camp, only to lose it back after being sidelined by a hamstring injury.
Reid also looked long and hard at the offensive game plans that have failed consistently and presumably will change his thinking there as well, although no one will know for sure until game day, since practices are now closed. Of course, opponents have never been more in tune to what the Eagles are trying to do than they've been since Reid's paranoia peaked with that inevitable decision in Week 2.
Finally, there's the ongoing project of fixing Michael Vick's severe turnover addiction.
The 32-year-old quarterback took to carrying the football everywhere he went in the week leading up to a 26-23 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions on Oct. 14. The idea was to put an end to his fumbling.
Alas, his free time would have been better spent having a minimum of four defensive teammates bum-rushing him from all angles while he tried to toss the ball to DeSean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin or some such. Vick tossed two more interceptions to run his season total to eight.
The aforementioned are not the shortcomings of a good team or even a mediocre one. They are, however, prime indicators of an exquisitely bad one that's been more lucky than good in every one of its wins.
On top of all that, the NFL's only undefeated team happens to be the Eagles' next opponent in what essentially amounts to a must-win game on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Keeping in mind that championship teams don't tend to fire coordinators six weeks in, the Eagles might not even be able to tread water the rest of the way if they can't overcome the Atlanta Falcons, a team they're inexplicably favored to beat by 2 1/2 points.
Vick's job was even thought to be on the line, but Reid is sticking with him for the time being, considering their next best option is rookie third-round draft pick Nick Foles.
"You just have to stand tall," Vick said. "It's not the first time that I've been in this situation. I understand that the most important thing is for me to go out there and continue to do my job and try to help this football team any way I can."
Vick used the off week to get away and try to clear his head. That didn't happen.
"I thought about a lot of what-ifs, what could've happened, what should've happened, what didn't happen, a lot of things that you just have no control over," he said. "You just have to keep pushing in this game. Keep pushing and keep playing."
Vick is leaving the tough questions for his coaches. He has too much on his plate already.
"I have no answers for [the lack of offense] other than execution," he said.. "You have to be able to execute and you have to be able to move the ball down the field and take what the defense gives you. We can't have negative plays and put ourselves in bad situations. That's what we have done."
That's just on offense.
Juan Castillo's defense, despite being outplayed and outcoached in the fourth quarter of each of the last two games, was pretty darn good through the first three and gave the Eagles a great chance to win all but one game so far. That his unit gave up just 18.5 points per game wasn't good enough to save his job, however.
So Todd Bowles has been elevated from secondary coach to raise the level in a classic panic move that Reid deemed to be the most important when, in fact, it should have been last on an endless list.
Bowles' biggest challenge will not necessarily be to generate a better pass rush, but to maximize the coverage numbers mismatch created by opponents who often keep seven blockers in to handle four rushers.
Castillo had been mostly right to dial down the blitz or call it off entirely when faced with the prospect of not getting to the quarterback. The problem has been mostly with the coverage, which has failed to produce enough interceptions despite often having seven defenders guarding three receivers.
"We just have to make plays," safety Nate Allen said. "When we have a chance for an interception, we have to make it."
So many have slipped through their grasp already — another sign of a poor team that's lost its way under a coach who's lost his feel.
So take your pick. Offense, defense, special teams, coaching. All of a sudden, every system is failing.
Can Reid fix this in time? Can he fix it at all? Sunday's game will tell us a lot.
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POINT PRODUCTION
The Eagles rank 7th in the NFL in total yards per game but 30th in points per game. Their turnover differential of minus-9 ranks 31st in the league, which is where they finished last season at minus-14, in front of only the Tampa Bay Bucs (minus-16).
