The Learning Curve
Posted: May 28th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 69 Comments »Some people have asked if Chip Kelly will be able to use Training Camp to find out how effective his offensive ideas will be against NFL competition. Others wonder how much of an advantage the Eagles will have early in the year, as defenses aren’t sure what Kelly’s offense will be all about.
I don’t think there will be much value at all in Training Camp, as Kelly will be working with an offense that is learning and a defense that is learning. Throw in the fact that the players know each other’s little habits and that the defense will be seeing the same things over and over. I just don’t see Kelly being able to take much from that, in terms of how his offense will do. I really think the preseason games will offer the first clues as to how well his ideas will work.
Even then, it is just preseason. There is little to no gameplanning. Players are going about 90 percent, not all out. And defenses tend to be simplistic. Kelly will be able to see some hints on what might work and what won’t.
The real test for Kelly will be when the regular season starts and then also when midseason gets here. By midseason, teams will have had a chance to study Kelly’s offense and come up with ideas on how to play it and what adjustments need to be made. You can catch teams off-guard early on and have success, but that doesn’t mean you’ll sustain it. The Wildcat was very effective early in 2008, but less so as the season moved along.
The flip side of things is that defenses may adjust to the offense, but Kelly will also adjust to NFL defenses. He is a smart coach and made terrific adjustments at Oregon. If that skill carries over to the NFL, then he’ll figure a way to make things work as teams adapt to his ideas. Good coaches don’t live and die on tricks. They use surprise when they can, but the foundation of what they do is based on solid, fundamental football.
So how much of an advantage will Kelly have when the regular season does start? I don’t think it will be as big as some might anticipate. Kelly’s strength is adaptability. His genius is in taking what the defense gives him. If defenses are conservative and keep the Safeties back, the Eagles will run. If teams are aggressive, Kelly will be throwing the ball. He will have a few new plays that defenses haven’t seen, but don’t expect too much of that.
The biggest surprise factor may be the pace of the offense. Kelly wants to be very up-tempo. Teams can think they are ready for that, but won’t really know until they experience it. As opponents study the tape and get an idea how fast the Eagles move, that will give them an advantage in dealing with Kelly’s offense. Actually, it won’t give them an advantage, it will negate an advantage of Kelly’s.
The x-factor in all of this is the level of competition. Back in 1999, the Eagles opened the Andy Reid era by scoring 24 points against the Cardinals. There weren’t a ton of yards, but compared to the abysmal 1998 team, I felt like I was watching an offensive explosion. The next 2 weeks the Eagles played good defenses (TB, BUF) and scored a total of 5 points…a FG and a safety. The Eagles didn’t have offensive talent back then so facing a good defense meant the offense had to play really well to have any hope. Clearly that didn’t happen in those 2 weeks.
The 2013 Eagles open against the Skins, Chargers, and Chiefs. The Skins and Chiefs had bad defenses last year. The Chargers were good, but have some tough injuries already. If Kelly can get a QB to emerge, the Eagles offense could get off to a fast start. It won’t be because of some crazy playbook, though. That will help, but talent, fundamentals, and execution are the real keys.
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OTAs today. Let’s hope we get some more good info.
We also get a Chip Kelly PC. Those have been entertaining so far.
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Jimmy Bama and I did a show yesterday on the defense. I think you’ll enjoy it.
During the show I was ranting about last year’s secondary and how it was an interstate to the endzone. I said DRC and Nnamdi weren’t DBs, they were mile-marker 23 and mile-marker 24. Jimmy offered an illustration.
Mr Bama put up a good post this morning, covering a variety of topics.
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Kelly must have some idea about which of his wrinkles were added to New England, in turn, he must therefore he has some idea about what will be successful; Tom Brady be damned.
True.
And Kelly is a football junkie. He keeps up with the NFL. He knows what is going on. This is so different from Spurrier. Steve thought he could just unleash his ideas and they’d work.
Kelly isn’t naive. He knows some stuff will, some stuff won’t.
Spurrier also believed he didn’t have to work too hard.
From watching a few of the Fishduck videos, I think there is an aspect of TC that will help Chip to dial in his offense. The video stressed that Chip wants to be able to run plays even when the defense knows what is coming. He can learn what plays succeed on this level in TC. Also, the video pointed out that once you know what play is being run, and that you cannot stop it normally, a defense will sell out to stop it. That is when Chip used the variations to catch an overcommitted defense. Again, working on those variations, and how to sell them by the offensive players, will be effectively tested against a defense that sees your offense every day.
The problem is that our defense is such a mystery at this point that a play succeeding against them in late July can be as much due to their ineptitude as the play’s quality of execution. If we had a veteran defense, I think your point would be more valid.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’d happily agree to a three drink minimum to watch that Fishduck guy do standup.
It would take more than 3 drinks
Charles fisher is friggin creepy….
Be nice.
i think the comment below mine is much worse..but OK, sorry
Nice guy, very informative, but he’s got a pedophile gym teacher vibe on the go.
i thought it was just me to get that exact vibe from him…The man’s site has been a godsend to philly fans..Very informative, and I appreciate his work…the only thing I dont like is how he is contstantly pounding his chest about how he knows what a read option is, and the announcers dont. He literally points it out in every single video..It was cool the first two times, but after a while its like ok..
Did Shurmur use scripted plays from his time here in either of his last 2 stops? I thought that was really successful here in the early days, particularly in finding out which hammer (RB) was working best at cracking the nut (D) we faced.
Most NFL coaches use scripted plays, but I don’t know for a fact that Shurmur did it.
I’m not sure that matters. Shurmur is a conservative WCO-ish coordinator. His offenses tended to get asphyxiated. He does seem to go around like Greg Knapp as some QB whisperer, at least in print and not in team offenses.
I suspect that here, he’s basically Chip’s assistant and QB/passing coach. Therefore, it’s meaningless to ask whether *Shurmur* scrips plays to start off games. I think.
please never mention g–g kn-pp again. worst OC in the history of this or any parallel earths.
There are plenty of OCs out there who shouldn’t be one. Head coaches hire who they are most comfortable with, and it’s a nepotistic business. It’s why I never have been harsh on Mornigwheg.
For the same reason, you’ll see lots of backup QBs out there that you know, if the starter goes down, well, god help you. Not like how Curtis Painter was helped, please.
Curtis Painter, worst backup QB plan in history?
I mean, its not like Curtis Painter really had a lot to work with. I think Peyton would have struggled to get 8 wins with that team.
Because Chip is a fierce competitor, I doubt the preseason games will be solely test-beds for potential starters and schemes. In the end, he will utilize his study of the opponent coaches tendencies and strike again and again as he did in contests with Harbaugh. He’s always going to play to win.
On another point, because of the speed of practices Eagles players will be fast decision-makers during the play. You will see this not only with the QB and receiver’s option routes but also with defense safeties and corners. Other team’s will have a challenge dealing with this speed, not only the plays themselves but the speed of reaction time to stop them. Hopefully, the Eagle’s defense will make the right coverage decisions.
Bill Belichick takes PS games more seriously than any other NFL coach. I’m sure Chip will fall on that side of things. He and Bill seem to think alike much of the time.
I talked about this the other day, how I feel that one of the players who will benefit the most from the Chip Kelly offense is Demeco Ryan…
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If our offense is going to be high tempo alot of the time, then it makes absolute sense that we practice this way..A fan might not buy the scientific rythmic benefits of practicing with loud music, thats fine..But football games on sunday are played in a loud and chaotic environment..Every coach at one time or another simulates loud noise in practice to get ready for a road game..All Chip is doingis creating a practice environment where players can get better, while also training them to think and perform in a chaotic environement. Our minds should be sharper, and we should never be less conditioned than our opponents ..Our offensive players have to practice this way, be in shape to perform at this pace, learn to get the plays in fast enough or they have no shot to execute the offense..
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However, the defense wont have to face too many similar offenses. As our QB on Defense, Demeco will be even sharper Mentally after having to get his guys lined up, and make the right defensive calls, against a fast pace offense, with tons of presnap shifting and motion…Demeco is practicing against this since May, by the time the season rolls around, making the calls against an old school couched team like the Giants will be much easier for him
to me, the crux of kelly’s offensive philosophy is in creating one on one situations via scheme and strategically using his athletes to take advantage of that. and being balanced enough in approach (run vs. pass) to take advantage of defensive adjustments to stop what’s working.
let’s assume 2wr, 2te, 1rb. ertz and maclin twinned to the left. desean is the z on the right. celeck is inline, on the right. shady is in shotgun left, with vick.
just from this alignment, you have to walk an LB out with ertz OR cover him with a safety. the CB is there to guard mac. you have your other corner with desean. you don’t want him one on one. so your safety is shifted slightly over towards him to help deep. we haven’t decided yet whether there’s an LB or NB on ertz. let’s call it an LB, though, so we still have another safety back.
if that 2nd safety is in the box, that is a max of 7 in the box. that is very favorable to run against in general. however, this is kelly’s offense. on an inside zone read, they can option the LDE. peters may set and punch him, but he can just as well release down and combo the DT with mathis, up to the Mike. kelce and herremans work the other DT to the 2nd level, and johnson and celek work the RDE up to the Sam.
if the LDE crashes, vick has two blockers in front of him for a quick 7 yard pickup. if he stays home, handoff to shady who has 6 blockers on 5, his free choice of holes to hit, and the likelihood that one of his blockers is going to get up on a safety. even if they walk a safety down to flex out with the TE and leave 3 LBs in the box, that is one on one blocking, and shady wins that battle for an average of +5 yds a carry.
but if they do that, in addition to still running against that look and winning, we have man coverage on the outside. if the coverage is off against mac and ertz, throw the bubble screen. if they are tight against djax but the safety is off, hit him in the crease (outside 9 vs. 2 deep type throw). if they are off of desean, throw the quick hitch to him. if they are really insistent about bracketing him, run fake, send desean on a skinny post and run celek into the vacated flat.
there is NO WAY to cover this unless every one on defense wins every one of their individual matchups.
Sure does sound great, doesn’t it?
Agree about Chip and matchups.
yeah. we’re still in dream season. (can we still use that word?). key thing is that from everything i’ve read on kelly, he schemes to gain at least a +1 on the defense. i feel like, if our OL is healthy, they should be at least hold their own against a defender. so that means the RB ends up one on one with a defender (an LB or S).
generally speaking, shady wins that battle all day.
where the scheme comes into play, however, is that chip schemes at least that +1 by optioning various folks on the defense (and we saw, even under andy, how well that could be, when we played games with Ware a couple years ago).
if the read option is credible, that is a +1 from the QB. and to my mind, the need to keep a safety to help w/ desean over the top makes him a +1 also. that means we’ll be playing 7 on 5 in the run game as a matter of course, where the odds would favor us, even up.
and if teams load the box to negate that, you have man coverage on the outside and all kinds of mismatches. i’m loving that on paper. will try not to get too hyped until i see it on a sunday, though.
Please… for the love of god… leave “dream” out of it!
Teams have been stopping us with creative ways to generate interior pressure, and just taking it as a loss when the ball gets out quickly or Shady finds a hole. Because sooner or later, the Martyball will want a long developing play and an opportunity for third and long happens.
So looking at Chipball, it’s not going to be what a play looks like on the outset, on first or second down. Reid was always really good at that. It’s going to be how Chip manages the flow of the game, which Reid was pretty mediocre or bad at. Always made me think of Dennis Green that way.
Yup…the Oregon vs. Stanford chass match game is a prime example of the quick thinking, adjustment ability that Kelly brings to our sideline…basically his strengths are Andy’s weaknesses…which makes things that much more interesting…
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Funny that Reid is running high paced practices now
Certainly, running on 2 safeties, and throwing on one is nothing new; neither is trying to dictate favourable matchups. There seems to be a line of reasoning that Kelly is purely fundamental, though, and that what he’s doing is a “safe bet”. I just don’t think that’s entirely true. Let’s not lose the trees for the forest here: he did creative things at Oregon that allowed his fundamental philosophy to work, and part of it was the threat of the QB taking off to run, or throwing a ton or bubble screens, to draw the defense up, and spread them out to the perimeters.
I think to be optimistic about Chip Kelly is to be optimistic that he can find ways to either reproduce the effects of those plays, or can get those plays to translate themselves–in other words, have a bunch of good ideas, in terms of creating positive pass plays in the pro ranks. Whether you want to call those adjustments gimmicks, or philosophy, or whatever–I’m not sure the label of it is relevant. The Wildcat didn’t fail because it was a “gimmick”, it failed because of a strategic shortcoming–the HB taking the snap most always ran. It didn’t provide the multiplicity it bluffed, and defenses figured that out.
Of course I’m dumbing things down when I talk about Chip and the offense. It does take brains and ability to get the favorable situations. The point is that football isn’t rocket science. Too often it felt like Andy Reid was using too much logic in running his offense. Like this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_eZmEiyTo0
Create the favorable matchup and then take advantage of it. Keep it simple. Chip does that and does it very well.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that the video was of the Princess Bride. For a second, I thought you were going to link a video of Ronnie Brown running a flea-flicker on the half-yard line. I don’t think I could take that kind of dose of reality at the moment.
I agree with your premise. I’m making the point that Chip will have to open up his bag of tricks, in order to execute the rather basic “big guys beat up little guys” philosophy successfully. I think one has got to buy into the idea that Kelly will know how to make sure big guys are going against little guys, and in what situations–that’s going to take understanding and creativity, and real intelligence, unlike the self-congratulatory display of “strategerizing” we saw above (and on the field).
When the Vikings ran the Blazer package in 2011, Joe Webb never threw the ball, and the Blazer package never worked as well as when one QB had whole series to work with. Any Wildcat RB pretty much *has* to be able to throw the ball for the several gotcha pass plays available. They also *have* to throw the ball on some kind of semi-regular basis, even when that play is dead (think of all the busted deep balls that QB threw anyways). Lastly, the Wildcat probably has to be used for stretches at a time, not just for one play.
I can’t say I know the details of the Vikings specific formations to the same degree of detail that you do. In your opinion, did they just not design pass plays for Webb or were they options that he decided to keep?
I’m not sure Minnesota was ever sold on Webb as a QB–why bring in a guy like Matt Cassell if you think a guy like Webb has any chance of becoming a starter?
The Vikings management essentially doesn’t care, and is focused on getting that new stadium. They’re basically totally all in on Ponder, essentially as a pretty boy.
Any close look at Matt Cassell will show you that he’s basically done as an effective NFL QB. He wasn’t working through injuries last year, he had a reasonably effective offense with a potent run game and competent passing options. Cassell simply has fewer excuses for an abominable season than Sanchez does. Doesn’t have the arm, and no longer can keep a defense off-balance with the short passing game. Joe Webb, in my mind, is clearly better than Cassell, if you’re actually trying to win games. Webb’s issues are quite a bit more fixable, unless the issue is that Webb is dumb or something like that (he isn’t *slow*, like TJack or Alex Smith, however)
I have no idea what’s going on in Webb’s head in the blazer packages. He’s a very raw passer, and it could be that Webb was being über-conservative, but I suspect that he was given extremely basic reads on the DE and SS LBs. I don’t think he ever actually had options for passes and he’s definitely someone who tends to stick with plays instead of freelancing when he should.
Given that I think the Vikings are somewhat crazy right now, I’m not sure what they think of Webb. Right now, what I’m thinking is that Cassell is there for a Ponder implosion, and Webb is the actual backup QB for what is essentially starter A and starter B. Given that there is now an alternative, the management thinks they can risk injury to Webb by involving him in the passing game as a receiver. I don’t think the Vikings will release him, however, because I’m pretty sure Webb will have a number of teams be interested, primarily Seattle and SF, and they are afraid of losing face if Webb succeeds elsewhere.
I was looking stuff up, and found this reddit post, which was kinda interesting in a variety of ways…
http://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/1aap5n/the_myth_of_matt_cassel_why_he_is_as_bad_as/
Re: Talent and Systems
T-Law:
I’ve always believed that, regardless of the system being run (save using the Wishbone or the old Houston Veer), coaches will have success in the NFL if they have great talent.
Two examples.
First, George Seifert inherited Bill Walsh’s SB Champion 49ers and won the SB in ’89 and was a fumble away from very likely winning another in ’90.
Put George Seifert in Carolina — where he didn’t have Montana, Young, Craig, Rice, Taylor, Russ Francis, MCarter, Haley, Fagan, and Lott. And Seifert was gone in 2 years.
Second, Barry Switzer. In his first two seasons in Dallas, playing the role of Clown but armed with “The Triplets,” a great O-line, Novacek, and a pretty good defens . . . Switzer “coached” the Cowboys to an NFC Title Game in ’94 and and then a SB title in ’95. And in 1994, both of Jimmy Johnson’s chief lieutenants were gone: Norv Turner and Dave Wanstadt. But the team was loaded with talent.
So I’d argue that in the next couple of seasons, Chipper — with adjustments or not — may struggle some. But if he collects the kind of talent those 49er and Cowboy teams had, I think he wins. Big.
Kelly’s no Clown.
i’d actually argue that your examples are to chip’s benefit. remember, he was courted by a few teams. he CHOSE to come to the eagles. i’d imagine that one of his criteria for evaluating a potential landing spot was a nucleus of players where he could work.
also, generally, if i was a coaching prospect, i’d be on the lookout for a team that was undercoached (x’s and o’s-wise). because merely bringing a competent system should translate to a few Ws, and you are drafting artificially low as compared with a perennial basement dweller.
the OL was artificially bad due to injuries. the defense was horrible — mainly due to mismanagement but also poor use of talent and poor talent assessment (collecting an assortment of non-tackling DBs and putting them in a system that puts a premium on their ability to be primary run supporters).
IF we don’t have a bunch of injuries and the players adapt to the new system, this 4-12 team from last year is good enough to go 10-6 in chip’s first year.
poetx99:
No disagreement.
Chip did not inherit a team with no picks in Rds 1-3 for 3 years (like Vermeil did).
There’s talent here. I think the sooner he gets more talent the more successful the team will be.
Regardless of the scheme . . . as long as it’s not a 70-30 pass-to-run ratio offense.
For all we know, we could have more talent then we think..I’m actually probably more concerned with us developing the young talent that we already have, then adding more. Of course we are no where near done building this roster..tons of more talent needs to be added…but I think the past few years we got away from developing our guys(yes many bad draft picks)….Harbaugh came in, and the talent that was already on the team starting looking much better…that’s what good coaching can do
Well, keep in mind the other teams he was being courted by. I mean, the Cleveland Browns were our main competition……. Cleveland is where hope goes to die.
If only the Eagles had a WR like the great HOFer “Bouncy” Paul Warfield . . . .
He played for Woody Hayes at Ohio State as a HB during his Soph and JR years and then RB/WR his SR season.
Then was a 1st Rd pick by the Browns in ’64 (Six HOFers in the first 18 picks). Warfield knew how to block, as well as catch and add lots of YAC.
Warfield was an amazing WR. Big as a RB. Fast as a WR. And had a career average of 20+ YPC.
He could play today . . . and be great.
What’s interesting is that in this era, there’s at least 3 HOF WRs with the size, speed and open-field running ability of Warfield: Fitz, Cal-Johnson, and A-Johnson. Not so back in Warfield’s time.
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Hey T-Law . . . can those youngsters block?
With regards to the offensive implementation, do you think Chip has plays or schemes we will hold back and pull out as the season goes along? Not so much individual game planning but open the playbook more and more to keep DCs guessing.
If Oregon is an example, he is constantly fiddling with the football equation. Depending upon his level of confidence with the players, he will make changes like “the universal formation” that will confound DCs to no end. The NFL experience will drive more Chip innovations. But he needs the skill players to implement.
God help the other teams if Chip starts looking at innovations on defense schemes! This is not too far out as he has driven innovation in special teams. Defense is now ripe for his tinkering.
from fishduck, chip was pretty open about 80 to 90% of his offense. they did what they did. and dared you to find a way to stop it. he simply looks at the chessboard and finds out your weakness and attacks that. and he can do it with the same personnel, and without changing philosophy.
so you’ll see the inside zone and the outside zone. maybe some ghost motion just to give a look and make you prepare. if the running game is working, and it should, that should really simplify coverage, which means that whatever we show in the passing game need not be complex.
you play off? we bubble, or convert to a hitch. play up close to stop that death by a thousand cuts? fake the bubble and go deep. nickel up? run you into the ground. go big? exploit your LBs in coverage.
drop safeties into the box? fake the run (imagine, eagles fans, a CREDIBLE play action fake) and hit either of the wideouts deep for a TD.
Just having a play action fake that opponents will occasionally bite on is a godsend..Andy was a good coach, but he was also limited. I’m excited to not see those limitations in our coach for the first time in over a decade. of course it’s early, and we are so far away from whee we want to be…but it’s a breath of much needed Fresh air. I believe that chip is the real deal. he is not some false Messiah lol…more important that he lays the foundation for a successful team this year, then to actually be successful. However, if players continue to work hard, stay hungry and Gel together, the wins will come
Just got to see Kelly’s PC. That wrinkle with simulating passing lanes on 7 on 7 is great wrinkle. It sound so simple, but yet so innovative.
ANDERS . . . would you mind expanding on the 7-on-7/passing-lanes point. I missed the PC. And I want to be sure I understand.
Go to Jimmy’s site, he got a good breakdown of it
Drc and nnamdi gave up 5 td’s each if youbwant to talk about someone it should be the safeties
Here’s a clip of Dez slow dancing with DRC into the end zone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXnHruzlTHI
Here’s another example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrAt1W5ZvCk
I’m not losing any sleep over the parting of the Charmin brigade.
Barkley said that today they brought in a guy from the Army that does like the Pysch evaluations and choses the personel for the special missions(guys best suited mentally to handle each specific mission)..Barkley said he didnt realize it the time, but this guy also sat in on the Eagles interview with Barkley at the combine….
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chip is NOT playing games! lol
So Barkley’s joining the Army?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPaIixH6WnA
Any of you guys call me Mark Barkley, I’ll kill ya.
exactly what I was trying to say lol
Yes, Dumbledore’s Army.
Harking back to my post in the last string, Chip may talk about winning, but this season is all about scheme and player evaluation. That is, seeing how plays work, how players work in plays, how DCs/OCs counter those plays/schemes, and what adjustments need to be made in plays/schemes and personnel. The five year contract and the confidence of Lurie/Howie means Chip can focus on improving his team, not winning now.
I think Chip will have a short-term advantage as teams have to gather some film to know what he’s doing on offense and defense, but that only lasts a few games, you don’t win over the long haul with a few trick plays, you win by out executing the other team. And this team will struggle with execution on both sides of the ball as players have to get to the point where it becomes “natural” in the new schemes.
The key to this season is how they play after the bye week – that gives Chip a whole week to self-scout and make adjustments, supposedly his strong point, and by that point his players should be comfortable in his schemes.
As far as up tempo, it will help some in games, but is actually more valuable in practice, as it forces players to be in aerobic shape (and eliminates the ones who can’t or won’t get into that kind of condition), allows far more reps per practice under the new CBA, and gets players used to making decisions under time pressure. As they get used to playing at a high tempo, which will probably mean lots of forced errors early in the season, they should start winning the 4th quarter on a regular basis, even against more talented teams.
For me, this season is irrelevant. I really do not care at all about wins and losses. This season to me is about laying the foundation, the right way for a team that can seriously compete for a lombardi trophy in 2013. Short cuts in the NFL havent worked too often. You have to build the right way, respect the process..You must draft and develope your stars…Im perfectly Ok with winning 5 games led by Foles or Barkley. The wins and losses dont really matter as long as we are seeing improvement individually, as well as the way we are gelling as a team..
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However, if we are going to stall the rebuilding process by a year because of vick’s “potential”, then I wont settle for anything less than 10 wins. Even if you dont make the playoffs, game experience is so valuable to a young player. You see guys who were close to sure shot franchise guys like Matty Ice and Flacco, who always had decent supporting casts since they have been in the NFL, yet they needed 3-4 years of GAME experience until they were really ready to compete for the only thing that matters, a SuperBowl…Best case scenario, Foles or Barkley are capable of developing into superbowl caliber franchise QBs. But even if that guy is already on our Roster, it will take at the very least 2 years of Game experience until a young QB is really ready to try and lead us to the promised land(and we dont even know if we have THAT guy on our roster yet…if we are going to stall the process of developing a young QB into a seasoned Leader, so that we can go with a flaw flawed 33year old, then my expectations change DRASTICALLY. If Vick plays over a young kid with potential, then I expecting nothing less than 10 wins, and I will expect Chip to win a championship by 2015, 2016 at the latest…anything less than that, makes starting Vick in 2013 an ABSOLUTE FAILURE!…now, if we are going to build the right way, drafting and devloping players who will gel together to be a top team in 2015, then I have all the patience in the world for Chip
Today, Connor Barwin gave one of the most informative interviews(PE.com) that I have heard to date since Chip was hired…Sounds genuinly excited about this defense and how he will be moved all around. Stresses that you really cant label him primarily a left side guy, or a strong side guy because you will see him moved all over the place doing so many different things..I like that he is trying to carry over a rule that had for OLB’s in Houston: “You ARE NOT allowed to be blocked by a TE”…lol love it!..Reporters tried to nail him down on whether he would be our primary rush LB, but that clearly wont be the case. He said it will change from week to week, and that you will definitely see him rush the passer, but that he will also be dropping in coverage and doing a bunch of different things,,He seemed to be impressed with how Cole has been progressing in coverage, and actually said that today Trent had a really strong practice in terms of understanding the coverages and dropping back…He says that the reason all his teamates are so excited is because off the opportunities they will get switching from a 3, to 4, to 5 man front, and how it confuses and keeps offenses off balanced…Reminds him of the year they made the switch in Houston, and it was not the first time he talked about how they went from the worst defense in the NFL to the 2nd best during a lock out offseason..
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I remember the houston teams he was talking about..but I do not remember how much that roster was turned over during that offseason..Was it a case of guys they had, figuring it out, maybe being used in better ways,,,or did Houston add 5-7 starters that offseason the way we just did?? .I think this defense expects to be better than we expect them to be, which is obviously how it should be, especially in May..Pressure is everything, and 3rd down is crucial. I cant say that we will be some top defense, but I wouldnt be surprised if we put some serious pressure on QBs with Cole,Barwin,Cox,Graham on 3rd down, and Pressure will mask a ton of defficiencies. I think with some luck from injuries, we have alot of ingrediants for a future good defense already on this roster..How fast they Gel and Develope is the question.
Chip Kelly on Kendricks(Props to Sheil Kapadia for finally asking about Kendricks):
“He is Athletic. real physical LB, but his biggest attribute is his athleticism. 3 down LB, doesnt have to come off the field on 3rd down. Excels in pass coverage but physical enough to play on 1st and 2nd down..he is one of the MOST athletic LB’s in THE NFL, so we are very excited about his future and what he can, He can do anything we ask him to do…He matches up well with people, has a great coverage ability in terms of who he can match up with.”
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ILB coach Minter:
“Kendricks arguably is the best athlete in my group, I mean pure unadulturated explosiveness, speed, power, all the things you look from in the measurables, Mychal is at the top of the list, he has them all. His upside is unbelievable, still has to deal with the learning curve like everyone else (3rd defense in 3 years), but his ceiling is incredibly high”…”a rising star like Mychal who can run like the wind, very explosive, has a very very bright future”..
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I know our defense has a long way to go but I absolutely love our LBers. To have a savy veteran QB like Demeco, coming off the best year an Eagle LB has had in God knows how long, pairing up with a young, fast, uber athlete like Kendricks is the perfect interior combo..Then you book end them with an established Madman like Barwin, and Cole/Graham…If Graham really is ready to errupt, and builds on what he had last year, we could have a very scary LB corp…Pencil in fletch up front, and we are two Hogs away from a nasty front 7. We have some young pieces, we just need 2 to emerge upfront. sopo can band aid for a while on 1st and 2nd…but if Curry,Logan,Thorton all grow into quality starting NFL lineman..we might not be that far from having our front 7 of the future, in terms of personel
So, the “G” doesn’t stand for grounded, does it?
no worries, there are plenty of positions Im much more grounded about..2/3 of the Dline, the secondary…but Im friggin PUMPED about the LB’s
Here is the thing with Chip. He has been absolutely BRILLIANT in creating a practice environment and a way of training/conditioning that best simulates live action on game day. I have not seen a coach ever do it to this level, and be so thorough. If we are practicing in ways that will make us better conditioned, and are better Simulated for Sundays, then I expect us to have advantages over lots of teams. I dont see how we could say, no chip, you are making practice too much like the actual games. Logic states that its tough not to be excited about all the changes that are going down. I dont even see how you can logically argue against any of them…but the real test will be how our bodies hold up practicing like this over the course of a 16 game season with veteran players….If chip has figured out the science behind pushing the limits in terms of simulated game day, while also being able to manage our bodies, then he is going to look like a friggin Genius, and I expect to reap the benefits of supperior physical and mental training sooner or later…If our players dont start dropping like flys, and arent injured at a higher rate then all the other teams, and we have energy(no dead legs)…then Chip will be Brilliant, and Lurie will be 2 for 2 in hiring coaches that revolutionized the NFL
I enjoy your replies. I don’t know who the clown is that is giving you a negative rating on all your replies in this post… it may be the army guy checking your mental toughness. If it’s not him, it’s not cool.
Thanks man…No worries, the grade school crap doesnt bother me. Like to talk football, not interested in popularity contests
Breakneck pace isn’t the genius in Kelly’s tempo, it is being able to get the defense in a package that they can exploit. Obviously it isn’t just trying for a straight track meet. I feel if he is able to disguise his plays between formations, he can try and exploit the matchups he prefers, not just trying to be fast the whole game.
Evan Mathis taking snaps at QB today really concerns me. He has a rag arm.
“If defenses are conservative and keep the Safeties back, the Eagles will run. If teams are aggressive, Kelly will be throwing the ball.”
Isn’t that what coaches and teams are supposed to do anyways? With the exception of Andy Reid who historically would continue to throw the ball even when the safeties played two-deep, I have to think that this approach is…I can’t think of any other word except simplistic. I’d like to think that Kelly would plan two steps ahead of the game, which means, as Tommy indicated before, taking what the defense gives him and making the right adjustments. What happens if the defense plays Cover One, for example? Does that mean Kelly has a counter-move for that?
Another thing I’d like to point out is the speed of the NFL game. In college, if the safeties stayed back, perhaps it was easier to execute the running plays. In the NFL, however, safeties may be positioned closer to the LOS, bluffing a blitzing play, and still retain their speed to return to coverage. There’s no doubt that I’m sure of in which Kelly may be brilliant with the X’s and O’s on the chalk board, but I really, really hope he recognizes the little important details that occur in the game.
If we, as loyal Eagles fans, have a pretty good guess that Kelly wants to run an up-tempo offense, chances are other coaches most likely know he’s going to run one then, particularly our opponents in the NFC East. If their gameplan is to try to neutralize the Eagles’ supposedly up-tempo offense, is it safe to say that if Kelly thinks that’s what they’re going to do, then would he play a “down-tempo” offense?
dont think we will always be a peddle to the metal offense…I wouldnt call it a high tempo offense, it will be more of a change of pace offense(IMO)…but I dont think we will ever see a “down tempo” offense for an entire game….at some point in every single game, opposing defense will have a grouping on the field that we feel we can take an advantage of with the personel grouping that we have on the field, and whenever Chip identifies that mismatch, he will speed up the tempo and not allow the defense to substitute