The Philadelphia Eagles were never going to go undefeated. That isn’t being said as a sign that we’ve lost faith in them because we haven’t. We just understand the nature of this great game that we have loved since our youth.

As the old saying goes, ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown’. William Shakespeare wasn’t thinking about football when writing that, but more actual words have never been spoken about a defending Super Bowl champion.

The Birds don’t want to call themselves that, but that’s how every opponent views them. By virtue of winning it all last February, Philadelphia earned more primetime games than it would have earned otherwise. They also assured themselves that they’ll get everyone’s best shot during the regular season.

Week after week, they have taken those shots. The team’s collective efforts resulted in a 4-0 record. A total team collapse gave way to the first loss of the season.

Some say Philadelphia’s flaws finally caught up with them. That’s probably true, but now comes the all-important question. Now what?

Here’s the easy answer. One loss can’t become two. The stain left by the Denver Broncos must be erased quickly, and as best they can, the Eagles had better cure three trends before they become fatal flaws.

1. What’s going on with the Eagles’ run defense?

With five weeks in the books, the Eagles have converted 87 first downs while allowing their opponents a combined 102 conversions. Forty of those first downs have come by way of a running play, while they have allowed opponents to convert 45 first downs by way of the pass, and another 17 by penalty.

Philadelphia has converted 37.9% of its third-down attempts on offense and five of seven fourth-down attempts. They have allowed 634 rushing yards, 4.7 yards per carry, and 126.8 rushing yards per contest.

Jalen Carter is a stud. Jordan Davis is enjoying the best season of his career, but if this team wants to reach its full potential on defense, they can’t allow themselves to be victimized. The Broncos, down 14 in the second half, never abandoned their running game because the Eagles never showed any ability to stop them.

Games are won in the trenches. Howie Roseman and company have long strengthened their defensive line’s interior as part of their business model, but this team hasn’t stopped anyone on the ground this year. That needs to change.

2. The offense has yet to put four quarters of good football together.

We can’t discuss the concerning areas without addressing Kevin Patullo’s side of the story. Each game has followed one of two scripts. Philadelphia has started slowly and caught fire, or they have begun quickly only to cool off when they needed to be at their best.

Any team rostering Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert shouldn’t be driven backwards as often as this team is. Barkley, Brown, and Jalen Hurts reportedly sat down to hash things out. That’s encouraging to know because, as good as Vic Fangio’s unit has been at times, this team will only soar as high as its offense takes them.

3. Philadelphia can’t keep beating itself by committing so many penalties.

Winning is hard enough in the NFL. It becomes a more difficult task when teams beat themselves. Five games in, as mentioned earlier, 17 Eagles penalties have moved the sticks for the opposing offense.

In total, the Birds have been flagged 37 times for 346 yards. The personal fouls have been truly costly. Discipline has been lacking, and it seems fair to ask. They say teams take on the nature of their head coach. Might an oft-emotional Nick Sirianni be fueling his team’s actions?

We’d venture to say ‘no’ (for now) because, despite this being an area of concern, this also seems the easiest place to make a 180. With so many veterans on this team and one of the best cultures in the NFL, fortunately, this feels like a concern that we won’t be discussing all season.