MAYBE THE Eagles' offense needs to play the Eagles' defense.
Sam Bradford and his merry band of underachievers rank 31st in NFL third-down conversions heading into Sunday's visit from the New Orleans Saints, moving the chains at a 26.5 percent rate.
Bill Davis' defense actually had been doing a decent job getting off the field on third down until Sunday's game at Washington, when the immortal Kirk Cousins converted nine of 17, dropping the Birds' defense into a tie for 16th in the NFL in that category, at 40 percent. Meanwhile, Bradford and Co. managed to convert only four of their 12 third-down attempts.