Chip’s Team

Posted: June 30th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 46 Comments »

Chip Kelly has been the Eagles coach for about a year and a half. But it seems like forever since Andy Reid was running the show. I remember everything about Reid right up until the end, but it just seems like a distant memory. Part of the reason for that is that Kelly has come in and really made the Eagles his team.

I wrote about this for PE.com.

Things were less dramatic when Reid took over for Ray Rhodes. They both ran the 4-3 and the West Coast Offense. They had similar backgrounds and beliefs. The one big difference is that Reid bought into Joe Banner’s desire for younger players. Rhodes preferred veterans. Reid had a plan. Rhodes wanted immediate results.

Kelly has brought tons of change to the Eagles. From smoothies to the read option to the 3-4, life is very different for the guys in green as well as Eagles fans. Not all of the changes are great. Kelly got rid of Training Camp being up at Lehigh. That was a great experience for the fans. Kelly no longer lets PE.com show extensive practice clips. Heck, they had TC shows that would last for hours.

If the changes help the Eagles to win, I’m all for it. But that doesn’t make them any less frustrating.

I can’t stress enough how happy I am that the Eagles hired Chip Kelly. I know that Bruce Arians and Mike McCoy each had success in 2013. I know Gus Bradley is a lovable coach who would have been a solid hire for the Eagles. But those guys don’t have the overall vision that Kelly does. I don’t know if Kelly’s ideas will result in championships, but coaches like him don’t come around very often. I think you have to roll the dice on greatness when you’ve got the chance.

I’m dying to know how things turn out over the next 3 to 5 years. Does Kelly build the Eagles into an elite powerhouse that does special things? Is he just a good coach that produces good results? Do things go terribly wrong when plants start attacking people? Sorry, I got off track there.

We all have to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Let’s see where Chip Kelly takes us.

* * * * *

Tim McManus put together a “What They’re Saying About the Eagles” post over the weekend. There was one really interesting bit.

KC Joyner of ESPN.com says the Eagles won’t miss DeSean Jackson. He identifies four elements that are part of their plan to replace his production, which includes the return ofJeremy Maclin. 

Jackson’s main role in the Eagles’ offense was to be the vertical threat. According to ESPN Stats & Information, his 905 receiving yards on vertical passes (defined as aerials thrown 11 or more yards downfield) accounted for 38 percent of Philadelphia’s production in that area last season.

Maclin missed the entire 2013 campaign due to an ACL tear in his right knee, but in 2012 he outpaced Jackson in terms of vertical receptions (47 for Maclin, 42 for Jackson), vertical yards (540 for Maclin, 449 for Jackson) and vertical touchdowns (five for Maclin, two for Jackson). To be fair, Maclin played in 15 games that year and Jackson played in only 11, but even if those numbers are tabulated on a per-game basis, Maclin was nearly as productive as Jackson. Given that his recovery is going quite well (Maclin recently said he feels faster in some ways), Maclin should be on pace to mimic Jackson’s role as a downfield target in 2014.

Good old KC Joyner. He drives me nuts at times. Joyner loves his numbers, but they don’t always have good context. Numbers don’t mean anything without proper context.

That said, Joyner has been right much of the time when it comes to his numbers.

The way to look at Mac/DJax is this. Jackson was such a vertical threat that teams always had a plan for dealing with him. The only way he put up the numbers he did is because of his great speed. Maclin isn’t such a threat and teams will single cover him on a regular basis. When they do, Mac is fast enough to beat them deep and make a play. He can produce similar type numbers, but only because he is defended differently.

Context.

_

46 Comments on “Chip’s Team”

  1. 1 Ben said at 2:33 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Yes and yes and yes Tommy. I wholeheartedly agree with this being Chips team as his coaching style is emblazoned all over this team from top to bottom.
    I was about to gush over Chip Kelly again but decided to temper my expectations, however I will say that IMO he is the best coach we could ever wish for and we should all feel very lucky our FO was wise enough to get him.
    I think he will get us that Lombardi trophy sooner than later and would not be surprised if it happens this season. Okay so I gushed a little more than I wanted to. Couldn’t help myself. Kinda like eating Funyons if you think about it.

  2. 2 SteveH said at 3:07 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    I’m glad we have a progressive and risk taking coach. Keeps things interesting. My sentiment when we hired him was that at least if he flames out, he’s likely to do so in an interesting and spectacular fashion. Much better than the slow, tepid bleed out that was the end of the Andy Reid era.

  3. 3 Crazymike663 said at 3:08 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    In Chip We Trust !!! I love the out of the box thinking, and all the new angles he makes D.C. look @ when are Offense is on the field !!

  4. 4 Anders said at 3:23 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Lane Johnson has just been suspended 4 games for PEDs, major blow to this teams OL

  5. 5 Mike Roman said at 3:30 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Just saw that. Shit.

  6. 6 ChaosOnion said at 3:34 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    So…do we put Barbre out there or push Heremmans out there and plug Barbre in at RG?

  7. 7 Ark87 said at 3:36 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    probably Barbre, he spotted quite well at LT. I don’t think Herremans is at a place in his careers to slide out to tackle again.

  8. 8 Ark87 said at 3:36 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Probably the one way you don’t want to emulate the Seahawks.

  9. 9 the midatlantic said at 3:37 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    2nd PED suspension for a returning player. “Chip’s Team” is juicing…

  10. 10 Ark87 said at 3:41 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Smoothy-ing*

  11. 11 Joe Minx said at 3:43 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Stupid. This crap f’ing pisses me off.

  12. 12 eagleyankfan said at 4:10 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    That’s why PED’s should be legal. All steroids. That way I’d still be enjoying watching Arod play :).

  13. 13 Ben Hert said at 5:00 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    I’m kinda curious on this. Does he automatically place LJ as the #3 T to punish him, giving reps to Barbre all off-season, or does he continue to keep LJ at RT and assume Barbre can step in until the suspension is over?

  14. 14 Anders said at 4:00 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Re: Lane Johnson: NFL spokesperson says that no suspension has been handed down from league.— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) 30. juni 2014

  15. 15 Ark87 said at 4:14 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    well, that’s confusing. Wonder if that means it’s a rumor or that they are still deciding how many games to suspend.

  16. 16 GEAGLE said at 4:20 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    What’s there to decide? He is first time offender…4 game penalty if it’s true
    ..
    Shouldn’t Domo speak the fuck and clarity this and tell us where he got the idea that Lane was suspended?

  17. 17 GEAGLE said at 4:14 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Where did Domo say he got this suspension news from originally?

  18. 18 Ark87 said at 4:27 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    this is so weird….

  19. 19 D3FB said at 4:26 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    https://twitter.com/Jeff_McLane/status/483702810777616384

  20. 20 Anders said at 4:33 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Really wonder what is true. I honestly hope he isnt suspended, but not getting my hopes too high

  21. 21 D3FB said at 4:35 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    I saw somebody on twitter speculate that it’s in the appeals process and got leaked, therefore nobody is commenting on it since its ongoing.

  22. 22 Anders said at 4:36 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    McLane just tweeted Johnson is in fact facing suspension

  23. 23 Ark87 said at 4:39 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    damn twitter, this is almost as bad as CNN.

  24. 24 D3FB said at 4:42 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sok_KbPG6iw

  25. 25 GEAGLE said at 5:14 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    It’s true

  26. 26 GEAGLE said at 4:42 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Funny how immediately McManus posted an article citing that according to Domo, Lane failed a test,,..Domo is apparently the only source we need these days….. Domo doesn’t even have to cite an anonymous source? He just gets to tweet stuff out of the blue and that’s good enough for articles?

  27. 27 OldDocRoss said at 4:55 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Domo doesn’t even have to cite an anonymous source?

    He did. “League sources tell me……”

    https://twitter.com/pdomo

  28. 28 GEAGLE said at 5:09 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Oh ok… Everyone who re tweeted it left that out

  29. 29 OldDocRoss said at 5:15 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Yeah, Twitter’s character limit can easy cause confusion at times.

    Doesn’t make it true but doesn’t look good. I’m actually OK if we get Barbre for 4 games. Less confident if we lost anyone else though just because of the lack of experience on the bench.

  30. 30 GEAGLE said at 5:16 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Berman says it’s true..he hasn’t officially been suspended yet..but he failed the test and will face a suspension

  31. 31 OldDocRoss said at 5:19 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    I’m thinking of a way we can blame this on Casey Matthews….

  32. 32 GEAGLE said at 5:20 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Lol…I’ll co sign whatever you come up with…
    …
    Basically there is a positive test but it hasn’t reached league offices yet.. _$50 bucks to the eagles fan that intercepts the test and destroys the evidence! I’m going to employ a couple of crackheads

  33. 33 GEAGLE said at 5:13 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Berman is saying that it hasn’t been announced yet and Lane hasn’t been suspended yet..but he did fail a drug test and will face a 4 game suspension…
    …
    I don’t mind him looking like BANE Johnson, but come on man. Can’t be losing you for 4 game suspensions..you know we are becoming a top team when we are becoming more and more like the Seahawks 😉

  34. 34 Ark87 said at 5:48 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    My first thought as well, “Copy cat league”, lol

  35. 35 GEAGLE said at 5:57 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    If we stick to the script, Boykin will be getting busted for aderal in 3,2,1….. And I can def see Cary Williams screaming to a reporter about how Dez Bryant is mediocre lol

  36. 36 Ark87 said at 6:01 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    if the Boy King gets’s busted, it won’t be for freaking adderall http://www.si.com/edge/2014/06/17/behind-body-philadelphia-eagles-cornerback-brandon-boykin

  37. 37 SteveH said at 5:15 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Some humor to lighten the mood (or maybe not): over on BGN, there’s an article titled “Eagles good at staying out of trouble”.

    The next 3 articles following that all deal with Lane Johnson’s PED suspension.

    Womp womp.

  38. 38 ICDogg said at 8:16 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A

  39. 39 GEAGLE said at 5:23 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Basically there is a positive test but it hasn’t officially reached league office yet…..For those wondering if we extend Barbre because we knew about this, the answer is no. We first approached hi s agent about an extension in Febuary

  40. 40 Sean said at 6:31 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    I used to dismiss Joyner out of hand until he was just about the only analyst to accurately forecast the NFC East in 2011 (Eagles struggle, Giants win division).

  41. 41 McNabbulousness said at 7:31 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    well shitty news about lane, but a little bit of funny news, kevin kolb cited for “boating under the influence”

  42. 42 shah8 said at 8:08 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    I was very pissy when I heard the news about LJ. I don’t have high expectations for the season, and now *this*? Lane Johnson is not Jason Peters, and he was a liability much of the time last year, but when he wasn’t being a raw rookie, he could be effective. Now we’ll have some pissant RT and a bad right side…A-FREAKIN’-GAIN, and you know LJ will be rusty when he gets back with more development to do, even if he’d peed clean. One had better hope for no injuries on the line this year.

  43. 43 shah8 said at 8:22 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    And oh sure, Kevin, it’s a good day to be a lamer Eagle, getcherself arrested, too…

  44. 44 ICDogg said at 8:14 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Lane Johnson – cost of suspension

    http://overthecap.com/costs-lane-johnsons-suspension/?utm_source=fantasyleaguegm.com

  45. 45 GENETiC-FREAK said at 9:02 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    Johnson let the team down this time. Not sure it would have been a HGH he took or a Diuretic.. Im thinking a Test booster to get that intensity through the off season.. But still long off season so still had enough time to cycle off.. Either way he could of cleared this with the training staff

  46. 46 Cafone said at 10:14 PM on June 30th, 2014:

    I see no reason why Maclin can’t put up better numbers than Jackson did last year. now that he won’t have to split receptions with Jackson.

    I think the key difference here is that even though Maclin didn’t play last season, he did play in training camp and he has had a year around the team to absorb the new offense. That’s an advantage Jackson did not have last year.