3-3 Eagles could go either way

• Eagles coach Andy Reid has 13-0 record after the bye week
• Michael Vick wants to eliminate turnover by not forcing plays
• Fans don't believe Eagles have what it takes to win Super Bowl

PHILADELPHIA -- It's not always sunny in Philadelphia as that television show suggests — especially when you're a tormented Eagles fan getting your heart batted like a cat's toy (again) by a purported Super Bowl contender beset by defensive collapses and Michael Vick's recurring turnovers.

Sunday's game against the 6-0 Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field could prove a flash point for fan frustration or a rallying point, given coach Andy Reid's 13-0 post-bye-week record and new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles replacing blitz-phobic Juan Castillo.

"I'd say fan frustration on a scale of 1 to 10 is probably about a 7 right now," said longtime Eagles fan Greg Ryan, 54, a software marketer from Honey Brook, Pa. "The season is not lost yet. But people can sense doom coming."

Bowles is a Bill Parcells disciple who figures to blitz more. He succeeds Castillo, who was fired after back-to-back late collapses vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions.

"Sunday is a pretty important game — if they go 4-3 and are one game behind the Giants, we're still in good contact," said former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, a season ticketholder since the 1970s. "The only way we're going to make the playoffs is if we win the division. With a few stops against Pittsburgh and Detroit, we'd be 5-1. And everyone would be talking Super Bowl."

Things were loose Wednesday in the locker room, where long snapper and magician Jon Dorenbos performed sleight-of-hand tricks. Can he make Vick's turnover problem disappear? Over the past two seasons, Vick has 26 touchdowns passes, 22 interceptions and 19 fumbles. This season, he has four red-zone turnovers.

"I just have to make good decisions, and I just have to protect the football," Vick said. "That's been the only thing that's been my problem. Sometimes you get to pressing and make decisions you shouldn't make."

Can Vick return to his Pro Bowl form of 2010?

"I absolutely think so," Reid said. "You can't turn the football over. But there are things I can do to help him."

For instance, protecting Vick better and running LeSean McCoy more.

"We haven't had reason to celebrate football in this town since 1960, for crying out loud," Ryan said. "I've been an Eagles fan since 1973. It's not hopelessness, because every year it's, 'We're going to do it!' Those 285 miles across this state in Pittsburgh with six Lombardi trophies ... why can't we just get one?"

Former Eagle Ike Reese, an analyst on a Philadelphia sports radio station, senses the angst.

"Taking the temperature of this fan base, there's not a lot of hope and faith in this team and coaching regime," Reese said. "It's unfortunate because I think the world of Andy. At 3-3, there's almost a full season left. But because he's been here 14 years, fans don't give Andy and Michael Vick the benefit of the doubt."

Rendell is not among the large portion of fans clamoring for rookie Nick Foles to replace Vick.

"Are you kidding? As immobile as Nick Foles is behind our offensive line?" Rendell said. "Foles would last a quarter. Or two."

So then can Vick, 32, really change over the next 10 games?

"No matter how hard you coach him or how much tape you show him, you're never going to turn Mike into Peyton Manning," CSNPhilly.com Eagles analyst Ray Didinger said.

Owner Jeffrey Lurie said an 8-8 repeat would be unacceptable.

"When the Lions came back and won before the bye, there was a shocking number of empty seats in the fourth quarter," Didinger said. "These fans don't feel in their heart of hearts this team is a Super Bowl team."

Now, Reid faces the most critical 10-game stretch of his career.

"In this business, you are graded on performance — whether you're a player, coach, head coach, it doesn't matter," Reid said. "You control what you can control, making sure you're doing your job to the best of your ability. Everybody does that collectively, then, you win."

Said wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, "We have 10 games left. We've underachieved. We're ready to play football the way we're capable."