Andy Reid promised there would be changes in the Eagles defense when the his Eagles faced the Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field Sunday afternoon now that he had dismissed Juan Castillo and installed Todd Bowles as his new defensive coordinator.

What the embattled head coach did not tell us was that the changes would end up for the worse.

The Atlanta Falcons scored on their first six possessions, going through the Eagles defense like the players were holograms.

The final score was 30-17 but does not indicate how the much the Eagles were out of this game from the start.

About the only thing Reid got right was his description of his team’s effort.

“That was an embarrassing performance,” Reid said at his post-game press conference.  “We obviously didn’t start fast enough. We didn’t get off of the field on third downs early. We’ve got to be able to do that and then they got some big plays on us. We did not have big plays offensively. We started slow again, at least through the first few series there. I’m stating the obvious [that] we need to get better. I need to do a better job.”　

Many believe Reid last sentence is not possible.

It would take one of the greatest turnarounds in team history to right this ship. Except the Baltimore game, the Eagles have not scored in the first quarter at all this season.

After the game quarterback Mike Vick sounded anything like a leader who is angry about his play. Vick seemed resolved to the idea he was going to lose his starting job.

“Obviously he’s thinking about making a change at the quarterback position,” Vick said, referring to Reid. “The thing I do know, and I’ll go and watch the film and I’ll evaluate myself, is that I’m giving us every opportunity to win. I’m trying my hardest. Some things don’t go right when I want them to. Some things do. So if that’s a decision that coach wants to make, then I support it…what I know is that I’m giving it everything I got out there when I step on the field. Deep down, as long as I know I’m doing that and I’m giving it everything, then it’s all I can ask out of myself. No more, no less.”

Vick was 21 of 35 for 191 yards and a touchdown. He carried the ball seven times for 42 yards. LeSean McCoy, who scored both Eagles TDs, rushed 16 times for just 45 yards (2.8 yards per carry) as the Eagles remain one of the league’s worst scoring offenses week in and week out this entire season.

The Falcons were led by their quarterback Matt Ryan. The Philadelphia area native played at a Pro Bowl level going 22 of 29 for 262 yards, three touchdown passes and a quarterback rating of 137.4.

That the Eagles held Falcons top rusher Michael Turner to 58 yards on 24 carries was irrelevant. The Falcons pretty much did what they wanted to on offense and the Eagles were unable to move the ball when it counted.

After the game McCoy questioned the Eagles desire to win, rarely said at the pro level.

“It’s embarrassing,” McCoy said. “For a team to put up that many points and for our offense not to respond, that’s embarrassing. We had no answer for them. I was embarrassed today. They played a lot better than us. We just have to get better.

“I’m just saying what it looked like,” he continued. “How we played, how the game ended, I didn’t see any pride. I didn’t see any heart. This is the whole team, myself included. We didn’t get it done today.”

Falcons long time center Todd McClure said their offensive line had to play better than last year in Atlanta.

The Falcons won the game but could not stop the defensive ends Jason Babin and Trent Cole, especially Cole.

McClure said he knew if they had another game like that, their chances of winning were less than last year. He said he and his teammates knew the tough situation the Eagles were again in this season.

“They’ve got some good players over there on defense and we knew that they were in a kind of desperate situation,” McClure said. “So we didn’t know what to expect. We’ve struggled against these guys in the past up front. So we knew we were going to have to come start fast. We’ve have some tough games here in Philly and I think to go out and start the way we did was the key to winning the game.”

Falcons tackle Tyson Clabo said the Falcons were aware of all the problems the Eagles were going through, including the replacement of their defensive coordinator.

“I think we were aware of the fact that we needed to be prepared for things we hadn’t seen before,” Clabo said. “So we knew we were going to get some looks we hadn’t seen before. They did a few things differently and I think we adjusted well and handled them.

“Every team is going to get frustrated when teams are converting on third down,” Clabo continued when asked if he saw frustration on the other side of the ball. “Everybody is going to make a big deal about it because of the situation that is going on here. They kept rushing, they kept trying to stop us and we just kept making plays.”