Twelve games into the season, we just don’t know who the Eagles really are.

Are they the team that’s beaten the Chiefs in Kansas City, the Bucs in Tampa, the Vikings in Minneapolis and the Packers in Green Bay? Are they the team that started out 4-0 and 8-2 and two weeks ago was the favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl?

Or are they the team that blew a 14-point lead over the Broncos at home, that lost to the hapless Giants by 17 points, that blew a 21-point lead over the Cowboys, that got trampled for 281 rushing yards in a home loss to the Bears?

There’s pretty compelling evidence out there that the Eagles can beat anybody. They have enough signature wins on the road and over quality teams that it’s understandable why they’ve been considered Super Bowl favorites much of the year.

There’s also some pretty compelling evidence out there that the Eagles can lose to anybody. Their inability to finish games, their blown double-digit leads, their ineptitude on offense and their shortcomings on defense are all ominous signs with the playoffs 33 days away.

How are we supposed to figure out a team that at its best can come from 19 points down to beat a Rams team that shares the best record in the NFC but at its worst a few weeks later gets trounced by 17 points to a Giants team that hasn’t won a game since?

The reality is you can’t figure them out and any attempts to understand just what exactly the Eagles are is doomed to failure because just when you think they’re really good they lose games they shouldn’t lose and just when you think they’re hopeless they start winning again.

All of which brings us to today.

Every once in a while, a game pops up on the schedule that really defines a season, and this feels like that game.

With a win in Inglewood over a Chargers team that’s 8-4 and has won four of its last five, the Eagles would improve to 9-4, increase their odds of reaching the postseason to 98 percent and reduce to two their magic number to become the first team in 21 years to win the NFC East in back-to-back years.

And a win would go a long way toward restoring some confidence in the NovaCare Complex that this is an Eagles team capable of going on another postseason run.

A loss? A loss means a three-game losing streak at the most critical point in the season, a loss gives the Cowboys more life as they try to catch the Eagles for the NFC East title, a loss would chip away at whatever remaining confidence the team has.

But more than that, a loss would make the 2023 comparisons come to life even more, and we all know how that ended.

This team has so much potential. You look at the roster and they’re loaded everywhere. They shouldn’t be scrambling every week to hang onto leads or winning by a field goal or falling apart in the fourth quarter. Other than that Giants rematch, they haven’t put a team away all year.

They drive you crazy because they’re capable of so much more.

A win over the Chargers would go a long way toward defining the Eagles as a team that’s capable of beating anybody anywhere and will be a real threat once again in the playoffs. It would help erase the nightmare in Dallas and getting pushed around by the Bears, give the team something positive to build on and put to rest everybody’s fears of a 2023 repeat.

A loss?

Yikes.

A loss would also go a long way toward defining the 2025 Eagles, and while it wouldn’t be the end of the world – they’d still have an 89 percent chance of backing into the playoffs – another three-game losing streak down the stretch on the heels of the Dallas collapse and the Bears embarrassment would put the Eagles in a hole they won’t be able to climb out of. Not when the only goal is getting to Santa Clara in February and winning another one.

One thing we learned in 2023 is that when you lose it you don’t get it back. The team that was 10-1 not too long before hobbled into Tampa for a wild-card game with no chance and everybody knew it and they got blown out.

There’s still time for this Eagles team to prove to the NFL – and to themselves – that they’re still a force to contend with, that this isn’t 2023 all over again, that they still have some fight and pride.

It’s got to start today. It’s got to start now. You only get so many chances to save a season.