Chip Has to be Chip
Posted: September 20th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 47 Comments »One notable event in Thursday’s game was Chip Kelly’s decision to go for 2. The Eagles had just scored a TD. They were down 10-6. You kick the PAT and cut the lead to 10-7.
Instead, the Eagles lined up in the swinging gate. When the Chiefs didn’t have the right defensive set, the players did as instructed and went for the 2-point conversion. It failed.
The general consensus…”Why?”
Jordan Raanan shared this nugget on Twitter.
Lot of 'this isn't college!' RT @The700Level what was the consensus in the press box on Chip going for two? In the crowd is was befuddlement
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) September 20, 2013
If you wanted a conventional coach, we should have hired Mike McCoy or Bruce Arians or Gus Bradley. The Eagles chose Chip Kelly. He’s unconventional. That means taking risks. And sometimes failing.
Chip has to adjust to the NFL, but he cannot stop doing too many of the things that made him successful at Oregon. That would change who he is and what makes him such a good coach. Chip wants to be aggressive. He wants to take chances. He wants to push his players. This will drive them to be better than they would in a conventional setting. You don’t fear failure. You chase success.
Jimmy Bama, arguably the greatest football writer since the Paleolithic Age, did a terrific job of showing that the play failed due to execution. The call was fine. The Eagles had a 6 to 5 advantage on that side. Lane Johnson missed his assignment and that led to Zach Ertz being stopped short. Go read Jimmy’s piece to see visual evidence of why the play should have worked.
It is easy to obsess on whether the play works or fails in a given game. I think that misses the point (pun intended). Chip wants his teams to always be looking for an advantage. Why reward the opponent by kicking the PAT every time? If the Eagles practice the swinging gate well, it should work when run in games. It didn’t on Thursday night, but that doesn’t mean you give up on it.
You need to embrace Chip and his way of doing things or you’re going to be frustrated for the next 3 years. He will run this play a handful of times this year. It will work some. It will fail as well. That’s okay. Chip has to do things his way if his ideas are going to work the way we want them to. You don’t hire a coach like Chip and then ask him to be “normal”.
I’m reminded of a scene from a movie I love, The Buddy Holly Story. Buddy goes to New York and is getting ready to sign a record deal. The label owner mentions the name of the producer that Holly will work with. Buddy stops him cold and says that he’s his own producer. Buddy had worked with a producer in Nashville and it bombed. He will succeed or fail doing things his way.
Chip has to be Chip.
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i have noi problem with that call…they got the 6 on 5 match up they wanted and it wouldve worked had there not been a blown assignment….and had we won bc of it Chip would’ve been put on a pedestal for it. and 3 other teams would copy-cat it.
Just out of interest… Which 3 teams?
the only thing i took from this is that you love the buddy holly story…… yikes.
It stars Gary Busey. Everyone should love it.
Great movie! But, Great Balls of Fire is an even better Buddy Holly Movie. Love this scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q_olybarxU. Apparently, this is something that actually happened…
Busey in Entourage was just as good.
But i agree, gotta let chip be chip or chip ant chip. We hired chip, we didnt hire chip not being chip. Without chip being chip, chip just isnt chip.
Without dips, chips aren’t chips.
Without chips, dips can’t be dipped.
even with dips chips are still chips, but with dips chips are chips and dip, but without chips, dips just arent dips, they need chips to go with the dips and we need dips to go with the chips.
Ok, that whole chips & dips exchange just reminded me of Abbott & Costello’s “Who’s on 1st”…lol.
thank you, thank you, your far too kind
FOUR POSTS IN ONE DAY!??! Tommy is having a helluva day. But seriously, stop spoiling us before we come to expect it.
Also if they had converted that 2pt conversion, the score would have been 26-18, a one possession game when the Eagles got the ball back with 3 mins left instead of 26-16 or 26-17 (both scores obviously are two possession games). That’s a game-changer right there.
Or a 5 point game if Henery doesn’t miss which means we could have tied the game with a 65 yard FG and a last minute safety. Sounds reasonable to me…
Pssh, that is just ridiculous. Donovan and I know there are no ties in football on the night his number is retired.
No you are wrong, Donovan was wearing a tie on the night his number was retired.
you’re absolutely brilliant, I’m falling out of my seat laughing at your jokes…
If this season doesn’t go well, I have a feeling the whole “This isn’t college!” thing is going to get very, very old.
from who? The press? Chip answers to Jeffrey Lurie, not dopes in a press box. Lurie has proven not to fall victim to pressures from the press.
Also, because I am obsessing over the whole Vinny Curry being inactive thing and is very off topic but I’m going to mention it anyhow, Curry only had 12 snaps this week but managed a sack, drew a holding call and had 3 QB hurries.
They’re doing to Curry what Washburn did to Graham last year.
Oh and! I’d like to point out since it was a hot topic during the game; Sean Smith was exactly the right corner to be covering Riley Cooper. Cooper is a big, not quick possession/jump ball type receiver with ok speed. Sean Smith is a big, physical corner with ok speed. He was literally just the right corner to match up with Riley. DISCLAIMER: I am not saying that I think Riley Cooper is a starting caliber wideout, or that we’re ok with him starting opposite desean, or anything else like that. I’m just saying its understandable he had a tough time with Smith because Smith’s skillset matched up so well against Riley.
Just finished re-watching the D. Curry should get more playing time from here on out. Great showing in limited snaps.
Yeah he was amazing,,..forget the stats…his hurries were huge. One led to the bad throw that Barwin should have picked off, another led to a bad throw that forced a punt,,.the kid was balling….what I don’t understand is when a fender is making so many plays, why not up his snap count during the game? The kid was a force out there, and only got 12 snaps…
But when has Curry’s play affected his play time?
Let’s hope it does this time, but his performances have been no guarantee of playing time so far.
My only concern on the 2 pointer is that our execution had been sloppy up until that point. I sort of think that if you are going to try different things it’s vital that they work.
Thinking about Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers there were a lot of doubters about some of his methods early – specifically remember people questioning them staying in the east coast for two games early on, in that case they won both and Harbaugh was suddenly a genius and the doubters were bought in.
Chip has a bit if a learning curve to go through but I think he needs to be careful with his timing of stuff like this as it could risk seriously undermining him.
In hindsight we are all smarter, but the Eagles absolutely should have drafted Tyrann Mathieu who very well could become the DROY. The Eagles inability to draft legit safeties really baffles me..
And do what with him? Make him a dime CB?
The Eagles could use any help in their secondary. I am pretty sure they would have found a way to use him properly.
Yeah, I’m sure he would’ve looked much better than Poyer did in San Diego game!
Wa? Because our secondary is too deep to bring in more competition?
Re the failed 2-pt conversion:
Can a badly executed play not be a bad decision at the same time? Or conversely can a well executed play never be a bad decision?
I disagree…too early to Junk up the score, that’s how you end up chasing points…
…
The advantage of going for two wasn’t worth, not getting the two points
If the conversion rate of going for 2 instead of 1 is greater than 51% it’s probably worth it.
Just don’t like junking up the score, which leads to chasing points and put you in positions later in the game where you are forced to go for two…gaining an extra point, isn’t worth NEEDING to convert a two pt conversion later in the game…imo
That’s one outcome. The other being that if we get the two it’s a one possession game at the end of the 4th qtr and if we don’t (or if we just kicked the PAT) it’s a 2 possession game.
no fair! you’re using math!
I don’t mind the 2 point try at all. If teams know you’re often going to do something crazy, they’re less likely to pin their ears back on all out blocks of your kicks.
I know this is off topic (and I just put it up at 24/7), but I need to vent with my football “friends” on here.
Fox 29 just received a very nasty email from me due to their nonsensical decision to air Panther / Giants tomorrow instead of Packers / Bengals. Fox Sports’ nation site lists Bengals / Pack as the game of the week, but we’re stuck with New York trash. Brutal. I hate those people, their team, and their refusal to keep themselves out of the greater Philadelphia area. F New York.
from an Eagle fan in Panther region, you should be more upset that you have to watch the Panthers…really a boring team.
They got shutout, worth every minute 🙂
To me, Chip Kelly seems to be out of his league. He’s made mistakes in each game this season. He’s just not ready for the Nfl. He needs to learn the rules better and will learn that time of possession is crucial and has always been in the nfl. This offense isn’t sustainable over the course of the entire season; most of the team are going to have rubber legs by week 10. If the Eagles get blacked out this year; I truly believe lurie will fire him and probably roseman too. Tommy, i love most of your posts and really appreciate all your hardwork but you really need to be more critical. I know its only week 3 but for me, the writing is on the wall. This isn’t college anymore chip, it’s the Philadelphia Eagles, every point matters in this league.
Heath Evans? Is that you?
you crazy
Park the Delorean, welcome to 2013.
I think there’s a difference between letting Chip be Chip and recognizing what aspects of the college game don’t translate to the NFL. They also didn’t hire chip to be a college coach, they hired him to be an NFL coach. I don’t have a huge problem with him going for two there, but I think there’s a reason why it’s very difficult to score inside the 5 yard line in the NFL, and that doesn’t change with a two point conversion.
I’ve got to imagine that it’s hard for Chip to come to a team in which he inherits his roster. And not an overwhelmingly talented one, at that. He’s used to playing with guys that he hand picked.
chip isn’t a dope, nothing of importance ever comes from the “press box”