According to the midrash, the phrase ishei Yisrael does not translate as the fire offerings of Israel but rather the men of Israel the tzaddikim whose souls are offered before Hashem. Tosefot notes, however, that there is another opinion which translates these words literally as sacrifices, and views them as an extension of the request that Hashem return the sacred service to His sanctuary. Our prayer thus is that Hashem restore our ability to offer actual sacrifices. People are like the malachim in that they have intelligence, they walk upright and they speak the Holy Tongue of Hebrew. People are like animals in that they eat and drink, they multiply, and they expel wastes from their bodies.
Men see like the malachim and perish like animals.
The comparison of sight does not present such a problem because an animal has the power of sight as well. Two answers are found in the commentaries. Rif suggests that the gemara is referring to the initial creation of Man, before Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge and brought death to the world. Iyun Yaakov explains that although both man and animal have limited existence in this world, the cause of their respective deaths is not the same. Man dies as a result of his sins, while the animal dies because Hashem has so programmed its existence.