Impact of Adversity
Posted: November 29th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 348 Comments »Chemistry, culture and character. These sound like simple concepts, but they aren’t. They can be incredibly powerful, but also very fragile, as we’re all finding out this year.
Chip has made culture a point of emphasis since taking over the Eagles. He got rid of players who he didn’t think were the right fit, no matter how talented. Kelly signed and drafted players that were high character guys. For two years, this worked well.
2015? Not so much.
Jimmy Bama recently wrote an interesting piece saying that Chip’s culture never really existed.
During those six years, Kelly’s culture initiatives were never really put to the test of losing. Now that it has, we’re seeing how the players have responded, and that response shows that a great culture foundation was never really there in the first place.
I don’t necessarily agree with Jimmy’s conclusion, but his point about culture not being truly tested is really interesting. I had never considered that angle. Chip was 46-7 at Oregon. There were small moments of adversity, but hardly anything overwhelming.
The Eagles started 1-3 back in 2013. They actually lost 3 straight after winning the opener. They were 3-5 at midseason. But that was different. Kelly was a new coach. Slow starts are different in that situation than what the Eagles are going through right now. That team was learning. This team was supposed to be contending.
Jimmy says the culture never existed. I don’t agree with that. I think it changed.
Gone
Nick Foles
Jeremy Maclin
Todd Herremans
Brad Smith
Trent Cole
There was more roster turnover than that, but those guys were leaders. Foles had serious limitations as a QB, but he was great in the locker room and on the sideline. He gave credit when things went right. He took the blame when things went wrong. He said all the right things.
Maclin was a high character guy and leader. He was also highly productive, which made him all the more important as a leader and locker room presence.
Herremans was a declining player, but was a leader on the OL.
Smith was a key leader on STs and a good influence on the young WRs.
Cole wasn’t the most vocal leader, but was a great influence on the other players. He was also ultra-competitive on the field and that effort was infectious.
Guys like Evan Mathis, Shady McCoy and Brandon Boykin were very good players. I don’t know that they were necessarily leaders though.
There was a lot of change from 2014 to 2015, despite what Kelly says. The Eagles changed at QB, RB, WR and 2 OL. Kelly added high character guys, but they were still outsiders. Some players can step right in and be a leader. Malcolm Jenkins is that type of player. Bradford and Murray aren’t. Young players like Josh Huff and Nelson Agholor are too busy trying to become reliable players to be leaders. None of the OL has replaced Herremans as a leader.
The defense has plenty of leadership in place. The problem with that group recently is strictly performance. There are some chemistry issues. You can’t have all those new faces in the back seven without having some mistakes. Complicating matters is that the Eagles have had a revolving door at ILB due to injuries.
This is the worst possible situation for Chip Kelly. He has a lot of new faces in the starting lineup. He is replacing key leaders. And the team is struggling on the field. Some key parts of the culture he built up in 2013 and 2014 are gone and no one is filling the void right now.
Part of the problem with this team is the weight of expectations. The team looked great in the summer and the preseason which built up a ton of hype. Byron Maxwell, DeMarco Murray and Sam Bradford are dealing with the expectations that costly investments bring. All 3 are getting big money and Bradford cost draft picks as well. That puts a ton of pressure on them.
Clearly this team has not handled pressure well. Those players have not handled pressure well.
All of this is now starting to affect Chip.
Talked #Eagles coach Chip Kelly post-loss. I'm told he was despondent, feeling the heat, intent on fixing his team. Considering all options
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 29, 2015
I heard that Chip was emotional after Thursday’s loss. That isn’t normal for him. Josh Huff told a good story about Chip being emotional once at Oregon (from an old piece by Sheil Kapadia…now I’m getting emotional).
Asked for his favorite memory of Kelly, Huff recalled a game against Stanford his sophomore year.
“It was halftime and he came in… it was a close battle and he came in and I’ve never seen him so fired up,” Huff said. “He came in, flipped the table over, he was cussing a little bit. It fired the whole team up. Eventually we went out there in the second half and did what we had to do, made plays and came out with a victory.”
Chip knew what buttons to push on that day.
This is a very different situation. We’ll see if emotion can help him get this team straightened out. That’s a card you can only play a few times. I guess Chip is going on the notion that desperate times call for desperate measures.
The Eagles weren’t responding to Chip’s standard mantra of taking things one game at a time. If they don’t respond to an emotional appeal, that may tell us that the team simply isn’t responding to Chip and that it might in fact be time for a change.
The Eagles play at the Patriots next Sunday. The Pats last home loss was the 2014 season finale, where Tom Brady only played part of the game and Gronk didn’t play at all. Before that, you have to go back to December 2012 when the Niners (in their Super Bowl season) beat them. Even if Chip pushes all the right buttons, winning next week isn’t likely. The key will be to see the Eagles play well, something we haven’t come close to seeing in the last 3 weeks.
*****
Character doesn’t guarantee chemistry.
You can assemble a team of college graduates who haven’t been arrested and are active in the community. They can be the greatest guys in the world. That doesn’t mean those players will click.
Chemistry is a funny thing.
You need the right mix of personalities and skill-sets for things to work the right way. The problem is that there is no way to know when a unit or team will have good chemistry. You can make guesses and come up with logical plans, but the proof will be in the pudding.
I’m sure Kelly could explain to you how the 2015 Eagles should have good chemistry. He brought in the right kind of guys. Bradford and Murray were friends from college. Murray played for a division winner last year. So did Maxwell. Kiko Alonso and Walter Thurmond both played for Chip at Oregon so he felt strongly they would fit in well. And on and on.
But the 2015 Eagles do not have good chemistry. Something is off with this team. Can that be fixed at this point? Not likely, but you never know. Teams can change in a hurry. The 2008 Eagles woke up and got going starting on Thanksgiving night and went deep into the playoffs. While that sounds encouraging, most struggling teams stay in their rut.
Change is possible, it just isn’t likely.
*****
After the Giants loss today, the Eagles are just one game out of first place in the NFC East. That’s the positive take on things. Here is the other perspective, as I put it on Twitter.
NFC East is worst division in NFL. And the Eagles are in 3rd place in that division. That's like being the Detmer with the weakest arm.
— Tommy Lawlor (@lawlornfl) November 29, 2015
_
Speaking of being in 3rd place in our division:
If we finish with the same place in our division as the Rams do in theirs; we’re going to London!
Yay a 6 AM game to ruin the entire day
9:30 AM………and it will make the day epic! My friends and I have already sworn to do a large breakfast spread with the highlight being pork roll sandwiches.
Pacific Time
What’s that?
Convenient…
Football starts at 10AM and Ends at 8 at night instead of ending at 11
My 4:45 AM alarm life is very jealous!
I know my friend… I tried living on the East Coast for a bit… It was a struggle to get up the after watching SNF/MNF
I guess I better start saving. And practicing my booing, to give it that home field atmosphere
Maybe people are looking for deep answers when the reality might actually be quite simple: Chip Kelly replaced his offensive guards with backups, which isn’t helping his undersized center at all, and basically made his interior line too soft to run the ball, a deadly scenario when you are a running team.
It’s not a stretch to say that all of the Eagles’ problems originate with a weak interior offensive line. They are a running team that can’t run the football.
Easy to say he replaced them with backups. However, Herremans has been benched and Mathis is playing at ‘backup’ level. So it’s basically a wash. Still a 4-7 team with or without them. Assuming an OL heavy draft this year (hoping).
Two issues with this view. First, the fact that they have struggled elsewhere is not evidence that they would have struggled staying here. Mathis himself is proof of that. He was a journeyman before coming to Philly and then turned into a stud. Second, getting rid of Mathis and Herrmann os one thing. Replacing them is completely separate. We failed to replace them is the point.
Did you see Mathis’s game winning block leading a sweep last night? Not sure how you can say he’s playing at back up level.
So he made a good block? Cool. Barbre also has made good blocks this year too. As a matter of fact, even the worst OL in the league who has played has even made a good block. I’m not sure what your point is? At this point in their careers Mathis and Barber are basically the same player. And one is a lot cheaper. We would still be 4-7 with Mathis.
He actually had a very strong game. They ran well off the left side all night long…and beat the Patriots. Mathis is the starting guard on a 9-2 team that is run first. My point? I wish he was still an Eagle, because the Birds played far better with him as part of the offensive line unit than they have without him.
Hoping indeed. How many decades have fans hoped for an OL heavy draft and never gotten one.
Its not hard to see why the offense is so bad. Bradford is one of the worst QBs this year statistically. Line is bad. Receivers are bottom 3 if not worst in the league and the 1 running back who fits this system gets 8 carries a game b/c GM Chip is an idiot and threw too much $ at an overrated back coming off an outlier year.
Exactly what I said in the summer when Herremans was let go and it looked like the Eagles and Mathis weren’t going to come to an agreement. Yes, I know Mathis and Herremans haven’t lit it up on their new teams but, hey, they’re new to those teams. Besides, when you’re swapping out your starting QB, RB and WR1 all at the same time, there’s a hell of a lot to be said for continuity on the OL with whoever you have, at least until the new skill players get used to playing together. I said it then and I’ll say it again now: blowing up the OL was the final straw that broke this camel’s back. A running team that can’t run can’t do anything, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing. I’m certainly no genius. Anybody with average knowledge of the game could see this coming – except Chip Kelly the wunderkind GM, apparently. The really, REALLY bad news is the Eagles didn’t draft any new offensive linemen the past two years, so there’s no obvious or affordable solution on the horizon. It could take two more years to fix this, and it will cost them big in the FA market at a time when they’re forced to go shopping for a starting QB. This team is in far deeper trouble than just being 4-7 in a weak division this year. Chip never thought of this as a rebuilding project and probably still doesn’t, but like it or not, that’s what he’s created.
Antonio Brown isn’t human
Pretty sure our season doesn’t turn around next week! Here’s to hoping we hold them to “only” a 45 point lead! Can’t wait to see what Vegas has to say about the game – hint, bet the “over”!
Tommy, isn’t it possible that Kelly has undermined the culture, not just by letting leaders go, but by letting superior players go (Jackson/Maclin/McCoy/Mathis) and either not replacing them or replacing them with inferior players? If I were on the team, the only “culture” I would see is a coach who believes in his scheme above all else and views players as interchangeable assets. Hard to create a positive, team-first culture with that mindset.
When will some people learn that nobody “let” Maclin go? He got a ridiculous deal from Andy Reid that nobody else in their right mind would match!
Nobody in their right mind would go into the season with our WR crew. The money that went into RB could have given Maclin ridulouser money, and it would have been worth it.
I’ve seen this team win 11 and 12 games with Stinkston and Trash at WR. I’m more irked about the line.
I hear you. But we had a QB at that time to pick up some slack.
Also an area I’d address prior to WR.
This is in fact false. We had the option of franchising Maclin last season. Many, including Tommy, strongly believed that was the way to go. Had we franchised him, he would still be here. We had an opportunity to keep him and we did let him go.
Can’t franchise players on one year deals as Maclin was.
Also it would have been $12.7 million.
As opposed to the $13m we spent on Bradford?
Oh, no! Whatever would we do?!
You seriously think a) Maclin would have helped or b) was worth all that money? He had one pretty good year, oddly enough a contract year. Now he’s right back to his old mediocre self
And Maclin is having a good season in KC helping them win, pretty silly to go into a season where you are supposedly competing for a ring with one decent, 2 vet scrubs and 2 unproven talents at WR. It was a setup for failure.
Agreed. I think Chip was mislead by not only JMatt’s 2014 performance, but how well the receivers overall in the class of 2014 performed. Seems like he thought he could easily draft that level of receiver again. Maybe once Algholor’s ankle heals up, he’ll be that guy. But he wasn’t that guy this year.
Given that all of those players had career years under Chip and none are in the top ten in the league or being talked about as elite on their new teams, you can argue that Chip made them the players they are.
so Chip had good players that fit his system perfectly and let them go….and thats a good thing??
Chip supposedly hates everyone.. thenpress fhe boosters bad guys tough guys vocal guyz .. literally but w t f doesnhe know about culture
Huh? Care to repeat that in English?
Did some editing
If all the changes this offseason n with Chips 1st year with full control how many people had a realistic thought of this team contending for the SB this year? I mean look at the OL compared to the previous 2 years? Looks at the WRs compared to having DJax n JMac? The D got more talented i believe but look at that nitwit of a DC.. The success of the previous 2 years looks to have set up this year as the year Eagles take that next step forward even with everything showing it looks like it will be a step backwards.. Team showing what was expected n everyone pulling out the knives for Chip
Lots of usually good teams are having strange, bad years. I dunno what to make of it. I just know I wanna give Chip a shot for at least another year.
https://twitter.com/RoobCSN/status/670826112537272320
Wow.
My thoughts exactly.
Sharper is a predator, Freddie is a con artist, and McNabb is a fool. I’m just happy McNabb didn’t kill anybody driving drunk.
Me too. I know in time I may come around on McNabb, but his problem is just wrenching to watch. I feel like his life is an Intervention episode right now.
He’s too rich and too old to be driving drunk. Get a f-ing cab or get some groupie you’re banging to give you a ride.
Donnie’s last tweet was two days ago. Guess he’s in tent city, wearing pink underwear now. Shoulda hired my brother-in-law, he specializes in DUI law!
Don’t worry, Donnie, it happens to the best of us.
http://ll-media.tmz.com/2009/03/07/0307_charles_barkely_tmz_video-1.jpg
Now I’m officially on the “Billy D has to go” train.
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/670989368740442112
J. Called them at the line? That’s pretty crazy for a rookie.
Yeah, but knowing that, teams know what our defense is doing.
Welcome aboard, but sorry about the crowded nature of the train
http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/02569/oldg1_2569222g.jpg
The tweet reminds me of a story former Cowboys Safety Charlie Waters told about Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw.
Waters saw Bradshaw at the ’78 Pro Bowl, following Pittsburgh’s 35-31 SB victory over Dallas (the second time in four years).
Waters explained to Bradshaw that, despite the defensive calls from the sideline for the Cowboys’ very complex “Flex Defense,” both Waters and Safety Cliff Harris would free-lance and do things in coverage they’d never shown on film.
So Waters asked Bradshaw how he was able to do so well in the SB — having never seen any of these new coverages. (Bradshaw went 17-30, 318 yards, 4 TDs 1 INT . . . and was SB MVP).
Bradshaw said: “I looked right toward Lynn Swan; if he wasn’t open I threw the ball to Stallworth. And if Stallworth wasn’t open, I threw it to Swan.”
Maybe, the whole “only coaches are smart enough to call plays” is more than a bit overrated.
I like this anecdote. BTW – haven’t talked much over the last few weeks, but good to see you here!
I saw similar quote from Jim McMahon once when talking about the Bears. I think this is the QB go to humble brag, oh I’m just a moron throwing the ball…when they’re not. At least not on the field.
Tannehills numbers are pretty good, gotta wonder if dude in Florida is the real deal.
This Seattle / Pittsburgh game is great to watch. Shame we don’t often get the best out of town games.
I was surprised they were airing this one in my area. Thoroughly enjoyed that game.
This should help with the chemistry
Round 1 Pick 14: Jared Goff, QB, California (A+)
Round 3 Pick 5: Jerald Hawkins, OT, LSU (B+)
Round 3 Pick 14: Shon Coleman, OT, Auburn (A)
Round 4 Pick 14: Tyler Matakevich, OLB, Temple (A+)
Round 5 Pick 13: Mekale McKay, WR, Cincinnati (A-)
Round 5 Pick 23: Harlan Miller, CB, Southeastern Louisiana (A-)
Round 6 Pick 14: Kyler Fackrell, OLB/DE, Utah State (B+)
Round 7 Pick 14: Ufomba Kamalu, DT, Miami (Fla.) (C+)
Round 7 Pick 29: Doug Middleton, FS, Appalachian State (C)
I don’t see how Goff would ever make it to 14.
I do love how you get Matakevich into every mock though. 🙂
Goff at 14 was pure luck. Matakevich is picked by me that often because he’s rated highly, would fit well here at ILB given the putrid play / health at the position, give the team some guts, and I have to admit I don’t know the draftable players as well as I will in the spring, so he’s a name I know is good in rounds 3 and 4.
Can we trade Chip and Bradford for a 2nd round pick?
Would we all be this mad if one of the front office guys came out early in the year and said..”it’s a rebuilding year”..? That’s how I look at things, although it’s perplexing that on one hand it appears as a rebuild (letting go productive, fan favorites), but then on the other hand there are ‘win now’ moves such as the two RBS we signed. It’s been such a weird year I don’t know what to think. Fire Billy Davis though.
If they flat out said; we’re going to stink but we need you to hang in there………….I’d be less irate.
Me too. A big problem with all of this were the “experts” that had us as their SB pick.
Thats the thinking from what they Lauri said have to take a step back to take that step forward something along the lines.. All these changes, loss of talent how does anyone realistically think this team will contend in the Superbowl this year.. One more year to get a better picture of Chips vision then i think we see if his team vision works or not
Not at all. But… that’s not how it went down.
The nature of the criticism would be very different, but I think the criticism would still very much be there. If someone came out and said this is a rebuilding year at the beginning of the year, first off, some of the moves that were made would have been criticized, the RBs and contracts we gave them are a perfect example. In addition though, this far into the season, are there any “rebuilding” moves that you would be particularly excited about? Rebuilding doesn’t mean JUST letting go productive/fan favorite type players. It also has to have a component of replacing those players. Of the moves we made this offseason, what, maybe one of them (Walter Thurmond) worked?
Saying the expectations were too high is simply an excuse for an awful season. This season was unsuccessful, both at making us a legitimate playoff team (yes, we can still potentially make the playoffs, but that has almost nothig to do with us and everything to do with the state of the division) and at moving the team in the right direction TOWARDS being a legitimate playoff team. This offseason, regardless of whether Chip stays or goes, will require significant changes if we are to be successful.
Not sure if it is funny or sad that the NFC East winner might win 7 games and the Eagles still won’t win the division.
Thought they had before the last 3 games a good chance to go 8-8 and win the division if they won the right games (Skins/Giants in particular).
Yeah, things are starting to look like Washington can win the division at 7-9.
Figure the Eagles could lose the next 3, but win vs. Wash and NYG to go 6-10.
Washington has Dallas, @ Bears, Bills, @ Eagles, @ Dallas. Even at 2-3 that gets them to 7-9.
Giants, Jets, @ Dolphins, vs. Panthers, @ Vikings, vs. Eagles. That is a “lose out” type schedule to finish 5-11.
Given up trying to figure out this team but for once I do the doomsayers are generally right. This team has a bunch of issues, ton of injuries to go with it, and simply not enough talent to compete.
Their likely win at least one more game along the way but I could see this group rolling over and going 5-11 or even 4-12 at this point.
I can’t really predict a win in any game other than the games vs. the clowns in our own clown car division.
Jamie Collins for the Pats has been out for his 4th or 5th game in a row with an undisclosed “illness.” I’m calling it AIDS or Ebola until the Pats fess up as to what’s he sick with.
He’s got the Alejandro Bedoya disease.
Bedoya’s had a “cold” since friggin September
I cannot stand anything less than an Adam Schefter tweet of JPP hospital charts level of info coming out on why a player isn’t playing.
And Bedoya is one of many problems I’m having with our men’s national team.
Driving down that transfer price, which I’m sure Earnie will appreciate.
Setting expectations:
I do wonder how this season would have turned out if Kelly had been frank last offseason, said this was a ‘rebuilding year’ after he had won the power struggle with Roseman, and tempered expectations and acquisitions accordingly including not signing guys like Murray or Maxwell.
Still do the Bradford trade and gamble he is an upgrade & the answer moving ahead forward after not being able to move up to grade Mariota.
It probably would have been pissed a lot of Eagles’ fans off but I do think Kelly was right in his diagnosis that the team that ended the season last year simply wasn’t good enough moving ahead forward to make a deep playoff run. Kelly just wasn’t willing to openly come out or settle on a possible sub .500 year while he was rebuilding.
Dishonestly will get you every time.
Expectations of the team would have been entirely different, but the moves themselves have been disappointing as well.
Next year’s coach.
Found it odd that the commentariat on 24/7 seems to mostly assume that Kelly is gone after this year, whereas that does not appear to be the tenor over here at all. What would it take for Kelly to be fired? What would it take for him to keep his job?
To be fired; banging Lurie’s wife
To stay employed: Lurie’s history with giving every coach a 4th year prior to making a move.
If they’ve truly quit on him and we see blowouts the rest of the year, Kelly is gone.
I think we have to see some improvement from these past two games for him to keep his job. Like losing close games or winning a couple before the year is out. Something that signals effort.
Agreed. If this team can’t find some pride to get fired up to play an undefeated Pats’ team and at least playing competitively, I see the wheels just coming off.
Lurie will tolerate losing but not losing like by healthy double-digits every week.
The wheels are already off
Nah. They have 5 games yet to play and a 3-game losing streak is one thing.
Losing out the season with an 8-game streak is another entirely. Tommy keeps emphasizing the fact that their are a lot of games yet he is right including for a team that still is not technically eliminated.
They started off the year bad and got worse. Now getting blown out by some pretty bad teams. The wheels are off, my friend. You have to be wearing some seriously rose colored glasses to not see that.
Or be an overt pessimist.
think only way he is fired is if players clearly quit and they get blown out in most of games left
Chip’s not quite gone yet, but unless he somehow turns it around in these final games, he will (and should) be gone. Consider this from Reuben Frank today:
“Before Thursday, I couldn’t imagine any scenario where Kelly wasn’t back next year. But what the Eagles did in the span of five days is simply unprecedented. They became the first NFL team in 47 years to lose back-to-back games to teams with losing records by 28 or more points. They became the second team in NFL history to allow five touchdown passes in consecutive games. They became the first Eagles team to give up 45 points back-to-back. It’s no longer whether Kelly can do anything to get himself fired. It’s now, can he do anything to save his job?”
sounds like a situation where the dc should get fired.
…and who hired the DC again?
Draft:
2014 and 2015 drafts certainly have plenty of question marks and more and more are looking like the disastrous 2010 and 2011 drafts.
Eagles’ scapegoated the results of the 2010 and 2011 drafts on Reid’s plate when he got fired and absolved Roseman of any culpability. I always thought that was an organizational cop out by Lurie because it was easy to pile on Reid when he was exiting here.
Still want to know who had control in the draft room in 2014 but I still think Kelly was the one who called the shots. If the last 2 drafts of the results of Kelly, that to me is the biggest concern along with his ability as a GM to get decent value in FA.
I prefer to see Kelly stripped of his GM duties this offseason with a new GM brought in externally that Kelly could work with. It can’t be Roseman after he lost the power struggle & got neutered. If that is something Lurie tries to force though or get Kelly to give up some control, I see Kelly forcing his way out. He’ll stay but only if he calls the shots & I have serious doubts about Kelly the GM.
I can’t see Kelly taking that strip and not demanding that they fire him.
Not fire him but buy him out at some level.
2014 is fair to judge at this point but 2015? 2015 looks like a pretty damn good draft. Hicks alone is way more than we could have asked for. You can see Agholors skills when he gets the ball but between the shitty offense and hom being hurt, it has hindered his progress. A giy with Rowes size and athleticism and versatility were too good to pass up in the 2nd. Not to mention Shepherd who got hurt but i am very confident he would have contributed considerably. At least he would be better than Biggers. Plus we got an additional 3rd for the next. I cak understand some of the moves in 2014 but it was great although I certainlu wouldnt call it as bad as 2010 and 11 thus far by any stretch of the imagination.
Sorry I can not agree about last year’s draft. Hicks is shining light with Injury history, He’s injured again. I thought Rowe was great pick but has not played well. Shepard dropped because of injury history, he did not even make it to the season. 2 of the picks are not even on team and Agholor’s talent is awesome but he drops way, way, way to many passes.
Yes Hicks has an injury history and that’s why he fell but you can’t get much more freakish than a pec injury. I can’t fault him for that. I think Rowe has played ok considering he is a rookie with a 61 million dollar corner in front of him and until a few games ago Carroll played fairly well. I can’t blame him too much for being single covered on freaking Megatron and giving up plays. They targeted him and Davis, once again, refused to double team. He was actually in pretty good position on most of those throws but again, its Megatron. Shepherd didn’t fall in the draft because of and injury HISTORY, he fell because he had an injured hammy and he ran a “slow” 40. As far as the other guys not on the team. They were 5 and what, 6th round picks? They aren’t gonna make the team 95% of the time in the first place unless the position has literally no depth. Randall Evans is on the PS which is where a low round guy should be to develop. Agholor dropped some passes early but I haven’t seen many of late. It was probably a case of a rookie trying to do too much too soon. His talent is obvious. Can’t wait to see what else he can do.
No question that it is still too early to judge this years draft, but I can’t get on board with it looking “pretty damn good” as we currently stand. Agholor has some promise, that is true. But if a first round pick DOESN’T have promise still at this point in his career, that is what would be concerning. Agholor still needs to turn potential into production. And while the potential certainly is there, his production, even compared to what other rookies on this team have been able to produce has not been ideal. Injuries certainly play a part in that, but regardless, all you have to go on right now is potential, but you had that the day we drafted him, he hasn’t progressed since then really.
Rowe has not been able to get onto the field until recently. That in itself is concerning (although not necessarily the worst thing possible for a 2nd round corner). When he was on the field, B. Davis provided no help, so you can’t fully blame Rowe for struggling to make stops, but at the same time, he DIDN’T make those stops. It’s early and no question Rowe has some potential, but you certainly would have hoped for more in his rookie year.
Hicks was a beast while he was healthy. If he can stay healthy, it looks like we may have found a stud. Of course, staying healthy is the big issue with Hicks.
Chip already has problem dealing with players of his own choosing, let alone someone else’s.
Chip’s considering all options? I hope one is his resignation.
Ba dum dum pfft!
Credit where credit is due — Tommy’s line about being the Detmer with the weakest arm is gold.
I do not get all the Hate for the DC. I understand the Defense has been horrible the last 2 to 3 weeks. The offense has been horrible all year, ALL year. How many times did Defense get us the ball back and offense do nothing. I would be pretty pissed and down come this time of year to. I mean the Head coach is suppose to be an Offensive genius and We suck. That is putting it nicely. We gave up a functional not good but fuctional QB and a second round pick for a terrible QB. We sign a North South runner to big contract and run sweeps. We have no offensive line and the receivers all drop passes. We gave away the two most talented players for nothing. All this and the CB’S suck and he had a good D for first 8 weeks and He’s the #1 problem. I’m not saying he’s good but WOW.
How many times is it obvious what the O is doing, yet the DC doesn’t respond? That’s everybody’s main beef with Davis; he doesn’t adjust.
Seems to me that chemistry begins when one guy dominates his man, pancakes a DT, stuffs a freight train RB, knocks the ball from the grasp of a WR, nails the KO return man at his own 7, and lends support to his teammates. I don’t think football chemistry has a whole helluva lot to do with moral rectitude or good manners. It comes from a darker place. And it starts with one player doing his job well. Kelly may have calculated wrong. He may have a cast of dedicated, good guys who will take copious notes in the team meetings, and approach the game with positive vibes. But if they aren’t getting guidance and insight from the staff, their ignorance and uncertainty will overcome their dedication and good intentions. Kelly said early on that he wasn’t there to be a cop or truant officer or some such twaddle. He wants his players to conduct themselves like adults who know what a privilege it is to play in the NFL. So he focuses on character and gets a locker room that is full of personalities of which he approves. Now we can marvel at the classy interviews given by players who just got their asses handed to them. The word is that Kelly was “despondent” after thursday’s humiliating loss. Somebody needs to tell him that he’s the fuckin HC.
Looking forward to Billy Davis putting Rowe on Gronk 1-2-1 next week…
Kendricks on Edelman and Thurmond on Blount too, gonna be a good game. I easily see our defense doing better than Denver and keeping the Pats under control…
I think we will keep Edelman under control.
And Amendola… 😉
Is he confirmed out? Anyways, Davis will probably keep Kendricks on him just to be safe and line up with 10 men on defense.
He suffered a broken foot last week. I won’t deny there’s a part of me that suspects he could still torch us.
Isn’t Edelman out the rest of the year with a broken foot or something?
Maybe he’ll put ‘Meco on him, just to switch things up.
Tommy, you seem fixated on the concept all the problems suddenly appeared this season. These problems date back to last season and the collapse down the stretch they became even more evident. Chip’s approach did not work well for the first two seasons. I’ll give you 2013, but last season we saw all of these same problems.
The big differences this year are the ST performance has come back to reality, the OL is even worse than last season, we’ve had more injury issues and we’re missing the talent we let go even more than when DJax was sent packing because Chip’s replacements have not panned out.
Offense DVOA:
2013 #3
2014 #13
2015 #26
Defense DVOA:
2013 #23
2014 #10
2015 #6
Is our D still #6 this year after those two horrible performances lately?!
I don’t think the DET game is in there yet.
Yes that wouldn’t make sense.
I think we’re all searching for answers but I think the simplest and most obvious and tangible one is the most likely. This team isn’t very talented.
The offensive line is terrible. Johnson – Barbre – Kelce (on one leg) – Tobin – Kelly. Ew. Expect lots of sacks and a crappy run game. Check.
The WRs are atrocious. Copper and Austin outside, Jordan Matthews in the slot. Ew. Expect an anemic passing game. Check.
The RBs aren’t very good either. Murray, Barner, Sproles. Don’t expect a potent running game especially behind that Oline. Check.
Our QB during this debacle has been Mark Sanchez. Enough said.
TEs…Brent Celek and Trey Burton. No help there.
Look at that roster over the past 2.5 games and tell me where anyone has any right to expect this team to be competitive.
I think so, too, Jernst.
People were obsessing over drops and “almost” plays and bad luck, but those things only become highlighted because the team wasn’t good enough. Every team has bad luck but that stuff evens out over time. There will always be almost plays, but good players make enough of those to win.
I don’t think we need All-Pros at every position, we just need more than we have. Look how much of a difference one talented rookie LB can make. With better players come more plays and scheme and coaching becomes less of an issue.
It doesn’t help that a bunch of the oft-injured talent brought in is, unfortunately, injured. Bradford, Alonso, Matthews, Hicks. I wonder if Chip’s gamble there, trying to exploit a market inefficiency, was based on hard data or just a wild hunch.
We fixated on the small issues bc we need everything to break our way in order to win.
Imagine for a second that Chip hadn’t cut Jackson and had signed Maclin this past offseason. And had stayed put in the second round and drafted any one of the great WRs that came out in 2014 instead of being desperate to trade up for Matthews. We wouldn’t have needed to trade a third rounder away to move up for Matthews, we wouldn’t have needed to use a third rounder on Huff and we wouldn’t have needed to use a 1st rounder on Agholar. Let’s keep McCoy and sign a good hard nosed downhill back up.
Now we have an extra 1st round pick and two third rounders plus some extra cash to fill in the Oline. Now tell me if all of Chips wheeling and dealing actually made the Eagles better.
I think this year would be a lot different if our offense looked like this:
Maclin – Ertz – Peters-Mathis-Kelce-first rounder-Johnson
Jackson – Celek – Two third round back up Olineman
Matthews – Bradford
– McCoy
I think you have to evaluate Kellys moves in terms of what the perceived issues with the team were.
That said the drafting on this team has been terrible, rebuilt WR corps, thats mediocre on it’s best day, probably 10 DBs taken most of whom are gone. Marcus Smith pick ruined the first 3 rounds of the 2014 draft.
It’ll be interesting to see how he changes things because it really looks like he’s gotta re-think all of his philosophies.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say the drafting has been terrible.
2013 was pretty darn good. If you go back and look at the players selected it’s pretty hard to find players we passed on that we really should have taken. Lane Johnson, Zach Ertz, Bennie Logan are a pretty darn good first three in any draft. Picking Barkley in the 4th was obviously a bust but not the worst idea to take a flier on a previously top ranked QB that fell to the 4th round there. In hindsight we could have just sat where we were and taken Alex Okafor which would have given us one hell of a Dline. But, he’s really the only notable player from the entire 4th round of that draft. After the 4th round you’d be hard pressed to find anyone from that draft that became a starter. Kenny Stills, Zac Stacy, and Caleb Sturgis are the only notable players we passed over in the 5th to get Wolff.
2014 was definitely the worst draft by far. We took MS2 while Kelvin Benjamin, Bradley Roby, Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr were all available. We traded up with a 2nd and 3rd for Matthews when we could have sat where we were and gotten Jarvis Landry or Allen Robinson. We took Josh Huff in the third when we could have had John Brown, Donte Moncrief or a whole host of starting OGs and OTs. We took Jaylen Watkins over Davonte Freeman, Aaron Colvin, and Martavius Bryant. After that Taylor Hart, Ed Reynolds and Beau Allen are about as good as any team did in rounds 5-7 as there’s no one from those rounds in2014 that has done anything of note in the NFL. So yea that draft was not good.
This years draft I think is still too soon to tell. I think Agholar looks very good and expect a big sophomore jump from him. Rowe could go either way but I think he has all the skills necessary. And, Hicks was easily the best pick of the third round. And Shepherd looked like a great pick in the 6th until his injury. Plus we turned a 4th rounder into a 3rd in 2016.
So if you look at the 9 top three round picks we’ve had under Kelly, we’ve gotten Lane Johnson, Zach Ertz, Bennie Logan, MS2, Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff, Nelson Agholar, Eric Rowe and Jordan Hicks.
That’s not half bad. That’s 5/9 that are clear cut hits. 1 (Huff) who’s shown some promise but has had very few opportunities so far, but at least looks like a playmaker when he does get his hands on the ball, 2 rookies with a lot of promise that could turn out to be hits by this time next year and 1 clear cut bust. Not many teams do better than that.
The hit rate for first round picks becoming starters is about 50%. To have 5 starters and potentially 7 starters out of 9 picks in the first three rounds with one role player and one bust isn’t terrible at all.
It appears he traded ability for cooperation, that is, got rid of the (good) players that wouldn’t follow his unusual demands. The idea would be that his system was so superior to other NFL systems that it would outweigh the talent drain.
Even taking out the last two games out, it doesn’t appear to have worked. He allowed the strength of the team, the WR corps, to become a hole that had to be filled with high draft picks that, unfortunately, have not even panned out. He dropped McCoy a year or two too early, but compounded the mistake by saddling himself to too much $ at the position. The Mathis thing.
A swing, and a miss.
Yea. I agree. I think the biggest mistake was to do this apparent rebuild in a piecemeal fashion over 3 years. He slowly created holes where there weren’t any while using his available resources to plug those new holes instead of plugging the ones already there or ones that where certain to appear in the future (Oline). This kept us winning while slowly decimating the roster of talent and forcing us to saddle ourselves with big FA contracts for under performers like Maxwell, Murray, Austin, Bradford, instead of building through the draft at those spots.
It would have been better if he tore the whole thing down from the beginning. Got rid of Jackson, Maclin, McCoy, Foles, Mathis, Cole, Herremans, ect before 2014, stocked up on draft picks, started building a strong core of his players through the draft, had a rebuilding year in 2014, had a top pick in 2015 and been in position to get his QB.
Or he could have taken John Brown instead of Huff and we’d have our deep threat.
This is what happens when 10-6 isn’t good enough and you have a coach with an ego who can’t evaluate talent or chemistry.
It’s even scarier if he knows what he’s doing.
And the reason the roster is terrible is due to poor roster management. Kelly took over the team in 2013. That team had a great, but aging offensive line. It had very good WRs with Maclin, Jackson and Avant. It had a decent TE in Celek and a great RB in McCoy and a bunch of question marks at QB. The obvious needs were QB, Oline reserves, a weapon at TE and an eventual upgrade at slot WR for Avant. Matthews was selected to upgrade Avant, check. Ertz was selected to be our playmaker at TE, check.
However, despite the good start, besides drafting Lane, not a single resource was spent preparing for the aging line’s imminent decline. No viable QBs were brought in until we gave up a second for Bradford when we could have drafted Bridgewater or Carr in 2014. Instead of using resources to fill out the positions we needed filled we created more needs by cutting Jackson, cutting Mathis, letting Maclin walk in FA and trading McCoy. Suddenly we now needed two more WRs, a RB and a guard. On top of still needing a QB and additional Oline help. Therefore we had to spend another couple picks on WR, sign two high priced FA RBs and had nothing left over resource-wise to address Oline.
When you cut good starters and open up new holes, you have to spend resources filling those holes instead of dealing with other areas of need. The result is a hodgepodge of weird FAs and rookies thrust into starting roles where good veterans used to play and the same holes that were there before are still open.
think Chip took on far too much too soon. NFL has a steep learning curve it seems like Chip was so obsessed and focused on accumulating absolute power that it never occurred to him he might not be good at everything and even if he was he would be stretched to thin anyway and the team would suffer.
He should have proved himself as an assistant somewhere first.
“Kelce (on one leg)”
Not interested. His leg isn’t snapping the ball and if he’s injured enough that the leg is a big deal, he needed to have been operated on weeks ago.
The use of in-season injuries as an excuse for poor play when one looks back to assess the season is garbage. I hate when the Flyers do it every year.
No one is trying to give Kelce an excuse here. It’s just a fact. His bursa burst and his leg is swollen up like a watermelon. Regardless I wasn’t saying anything about giving him an excuse or pass for his bad play. I was necessarily trying to talk about why his play sucks. I was merely stating that currently his play sucks. And, it’s a fact that his knee is hurt.
Kelce was a probowl level guard prior to this year. Recently, he sucks. I wanted to make it clear that we are dealing with sucky Kelce at center and not probowl Kelce, since my point was that the offensive line, along with the rest of the team, is terrible and devoid of talent right now and that’s why we are losing, not some nebulous notion of culture and adversity.
But, if you’d prefer that it says (who now sucks for no physical reason whatsoever, he just suddenly sucks, ignore his injured knee), just pretend it says that instead.
Then pardon me for jumping down your throat. I just get very tired of seeing the after the season injury excuses pile up when it seems like every other franchise can play “next man up” on the road to success.
Exactly. If our line is terrible because Kelce’s knee is too sore to play that’s on the GM who assembled such a shitty Oline that if Kelce goes down we have to sign Julian vandervelde off the streets to play center. That’s an “our personnel sucks” problem not an injury problem.
Look at how amazing Denver’s o-line they’re pushing the pats 5 yds downfield. Think the guy behind mathis is better than mathis.
I’m convinced it’s all about the qb and the Eagles won’t be truly competitive until they have one.
Denver’s team is so good except for 2 missed FGs they’d be beating the PATs.
uh-oh, if gronk is injured season might be over for pats. No way they can win in playoffs w/out Gronk, Lewis and Edelman right?
why can’t they? Because Andy Dalton is going to come to Foxboro on a Sat night in January and win?
It lessens their chances but they would still be favorites. Looks like Gronk’s injury isn’t that bad anyway.
Sort of depressing, Brok in his second start has a chance to beat the Pats. When’s the last the the eagles were close to beating a SB calibur team?
With no Edelman, Gronk, Dion Lewis, Amendola or Aaron Dobson even this shitty Eagles team might have a chance next week. Tom Tom can’t throw the ball to himself.
Need a pass rusher to beat Brady.
No doubt. But Brady is a much different quarterback without Gronk.
http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24801461/why-rob-gronkowski-is-a-better-mvp-candidate-than-tom-brady
Without a running game, no Edelman, no Gronk, no Amendola, no Aaron Dobson, no Brandon Gibson, no Dion Lewis….who’s he throwing to? Brandon LaFell and Chris Harper are the only two receivers left.
LaFell has 17 receptions on the year and Harper has zero. At the least this game just got monumentally easier as far as defending the patriots goes. Won’t matter one bit if we can’t do anything offensively, because even with that dreck Brady is still good for 20 points against this defense. But, if Gronks out, we go from having no chance to a definite chance.
i don[t see brady winning 2 in a row, especially not after losing in OT, but maybe trap game.
We have a few but they arent very good.
Not against their O line.
i guess you have to ask when is the last time they had a defense as good as denvers or a receiving core as good as theirs
Or when they had a defensive coordinator as good as Wade Phillips.
is that how our sweep plays are supposed to look?
In regards to character I have a message for Chip. Even the patriots draft murderers
Like the old adage says…when you have the chance to draft a serial killer, you do it.
Belichick always gets more credit than Brady but it is the other way around. If Mo Lewis never knocks out Bledsoe, I wonder if Belicheck would have just been another very good coordinator who failed as a head coach with 2 different teams instead.
Brady wasn’t that good during their first super bowl run.
Agree on that and they were really fortunate to win a bunch of playoff games that year.
I still argue that Brady’s development was helped by the fact that when it came to crunch time, he KNEW he could trust the play calls; all he had to do was execute the play that Belicheat selected based upon the knowledge of what the defense was calling. He got valuable reps in an NFL pocket without the high-level anxiety that usually comes along with it. It simplified every aspect about his development.
Plus his oversized hands that get a nice grip on the ball.
Early reports are that Gronks knee injury isn’t serious. Sounds like ACL and MCL aren’t clearly unstable on the physical stability tests. They’ll have to get an MRI tomorrow, but all early indications are that he didn’t tear anything. That’s good news for Gronk I never wish injury on any player. However, I won’t be sad if they choose to sit him next Sunday while his sprain/bone bruise heals.
Andy Reid was still the Eagles’ coach the last time the Pattiots lost consecutive games. Weeks 2-3 of the 2012 season.
pats are 30 point favorites
http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/raining_david_tennant_nosedrip.gif
give the points. Actually looks to be around 13. I would think 15 is more reasonable.
Unless the injury report has Brady out with abdominal pain, caused by laughter.
It has been months since Ryan Mathews was signed but yet 80% of the Eagles fanbase still misspell his name.
Ryan Mathews and Jordan Matthews should get locked into a room and be forced to settle on how to spell that name. We should only have to learn it one way.
Considering that Sarge also spells it Matthews, I think Ryan Mathews needs to fix his name.
We could go RMat and JMat..?
With the way his season is going, you wouldn’t think dropping a t would be that big of a deal for Jordan.
How many people still can’t spell FOles?
To be fair, we only get to see him on TV for less than 30 seconds a game…
[…] Impact of Adversity – Iggles BlitzPart of the problem with this team is the weight of expectations. The team looked great in the summer and the preseason which built up a ton of hype. Byron Maxwell, DeMarco Murray and Sam Bradford are dealing with the expectations that costly investments bring. All 3 are getting big money and Bradford cost draft picks as well. That puts a ton of pressure on them. Clearly this team has not handled pressure well. Those players have not handled pressure well. All of this is now starting to affect Chip. I heard that Chip was emotional after Thursday’s loss. That isn’t normal for him. […]
Interesting article from Eckel (yes everyone can write a good article / have a good take) and I think it’s worth discussing.
I totally forgot that Chip’s handpicked man to be the “GM” was Tom Gamble. In the beginning of the battle Roseman got rid of him in a power play, then Chip was moved to GM and Roseman stripped of power.
Eckel seems to think the loss of Gamble hurt Chip because Marynowitz doesn’t have the experience in the NFL and Marynowitz/Chip are both newbies learning the process.
There’s many reasons why this team isn’t doing well, but it would be interesting to think with Gamble in the room how the offseason moves might be different.
http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2015/11/who_was_the_eagles_biggest_offseason_loss_you_migh.html
maybe that’s true and I’m on the Chip wagon still, but Gamble was gone by the time Chip hired the guy (Mary….) who may not have enough experience in the NFL. So Chip kind of made that bed.
-Gamble likely did something worth being fired.
-Chip didn’t want Gamble around either. He wants to be the guy.
-Witz was with the Dolphins as a scout in ’07 and with the Eagles from Summer 2012 on. He’s not a grizzled vet but he wasn’t plucked straight out of the college ranks either.
do you think witz should be the guy? i remember them having trouble hiring decent candidates bc chip wanted final say.
I think Witz is fine for the job, because I’m going to assume he’s at least a competent scout, and then the rest of the job is just administrative.
He’s not going to have final say on the board. He doesn’t have final say on draft or FA strategy. I mean short of him not making sure scouts are getting around to see everybody enough (which once again I’m going to assume our scouting staff isnt comically incompetent) there’s not much he can really fuck up.
Ozzie Newsome isn’t walking through the door, but you don’t need Ozzie.
And as far as new GMs, both rising star types and protege to the great types have had success and have failed. There isn’t a great way for the outside world to know how much someone has helped build a team. Even in league circles I’d imagine they have a better idea but it’s still muddy.
Also Gamble was Eckels source while he was with the org.
Are you implying — if Gamble was here, then JM would have caught all those passes and Bradford wouldn’t have gotten hurt? Interesting.
“… Chip postgame: ‘I believe in building a great organization with great people. I chose you for a reason. I still believe in you…'”
But do they believe in him?
Bill lazor fired by the dolphins..wonder if he’d come back to his old job if we can give ryan day the axe
I had the same thought. Bring back Lazor, maybe pick Foles up when he’s cut, to be our #3 QB, all aboard the nostalgia train.
this week is our Giants – Pats 2007 regular season game. Here we go!!!
Rocky: I’m not going down no more, Mick.
let’s just show some GD fight please.
Not excited at all…. 1 win means NOTHING to me, even if it comes against the Patriots… This team has had a few solid wins, what kills us is we can’t build on the momentum of a good win and put together a streak of playing quality ball
..
Win means NOTHING to me, I care about what will happen the week after he get a win… I care about us building on wins which we have failed to do the majority of this season.
..
We Need to put together a winning streak… Win in Brady’s house is a nice start, but I need to see us build on a win before I can get excited about this season..
..
i need them to beat the Pats and Bills in back to back games, before I can feel any interest in this eagle team… Season is exhausting…
[…] Impact of Adversity – Iggles BlitzPart of the problem with this team is the weight of expectations. The team looked great in the summer and the preseason which built up a ton of hype. Byron Maxwell, DeMarco Murray and Sam Bradford are dealing with the expectations that costly investments bring. All 3 are getting big money and Bradford cost draft picks as well. That puts a ton of pressure on them. Clearly this team has not handled pressure well. Those players have not handled pressure well. All of this is now starting to affect Chip. I heard that Chip was emotional after Thursday’s loss. That isn’t normal for him. […]
Chip, who is still learning how to be pro coach says he doesn’t believe in raising his voice to grown men… How the hell can you coach Football and think there will never be a time When your players need to be chewed out?
..
Todd Bowles is quiet, polite, soft spoken, calm football coach with pro experience… Yet just a week ago when Jets were playing Terrible ball and losing, even Bowles went into his locker room post game, and flipped out and went Berzerk on his players.. For most it was the first time they ever saw Bowles fired up like that.. Consequently they went on to have a good week of practice and Kicked Miami ass the next game..
..
Clearly the team isn’t resphding to calm chip kelly, be great if he put his foot down, chew out his locker room, Cut Miles Austin for playing and not even wamting the QB to throw him the ball, Shake the locker room up in hopes that it reaches the players and get them to put up a fight in Foxborough
…
I don’t need to see Chip act like jim HARBAUGH, but this is just another EXTREME of chip that I don’t believe in…. I believe in BALANCE…
..
I don’t like that chip lacks VARIATY and believes to much in extremes..
.
You can’t ALWAYS use Tempo
You can’t ALWAYS be calm and reserves when talking your players
You can’t ALWAYS exclusively line up in Shotgun
you can’t ALWAYS get rid of top talent because they don’t fit your cookie cutter mold
..
There is a time and a place for Tempo, and a time when you NEED to slow it down..
..
There is a time to be calm around your players and there will be times when you have to kick your players ass
…
Too many extremes, too little VARIATY
..
Curious to see what changes in his approach will chip show after an offseason of self evaluation after a dissapointing year
Maybe he’s afraid that if he raises his voice to a 300+ lb behemoth he will get desteoyed. Haha
Billy Lazor gone — I think Chip needs to give him a call.
I’m going with 7-9 takes the division. We have a shot.
“We have a shot…[at lower our draft position for no reason]”
I think it’s time to go all in with a running QB. The big thing CK brings to the table besides tempo is the packaged play-calling – the combination can be lethal, but they both need to work together. I’m becoming more and more convinced that the packaged plays aren’t nearly as effective without a QB who is and is willing to be a serious threat on the ground. And I’m not just talking about a QB who will run on a zone read a couple times a game to “keep the defense honest.” I’m talking about a QB who can do real damage.
I think we all know that Kap and RGIII are the most obvious options in this category. I do need to say that I am not a fan of either of these guys, but I don’t know college well enough to say who makes sense from those ranks (and if any running college QB would merit a high pick).
I guess I just think this is the one thing we really haven’t learned about CK yet–how he’d do in the NFL with his offense working the way it’s really designed to. We’ve already taken the risk with him, and in my mind, there’s one big unknown left. This is it. I’m hoping we double down with this sort of QB in the offseason. If it doesn’t work out, fine — we’ll go back to a more traditional system and coach. If it does work out, it’ll be fun to watch.
I wonder how much it would cost to sign both RG3 and Kapernick. Having two running QBs kinda decreases the impact of worrying your starter is going to get hurt by running a read option offense. If we’re going to embrace the running QB offense I say we go all the way and have Tebow as the 3rd string. I know I sound sarcastic but I’m actually being serious.
I don’t disagree that we should embrace the need for a running QB. I think Chips offense really takes off when you add that threat. And if that’s the way we really want to go a QB depth chart of RG3, Kapernick and Tebow would be the way to go.
If he did that, he could really save some money at WR and just sign vet min guys like ‘tutu. He’d need to invest that money on D so that the opposing teams could consistently be held under 20 points.
It would finally justify the use of “blocking wide receivers” like Riley Cooper.
That would be a true Dream Team.
I love this idea. I need this to happen. If only we could do with Randall and Donovan instead…
I’m not sure I get all the rhetoric that Chip should be fired because he is a crappy coach and/or GM. Everyone acts like Chip has no ability to learn or adapt and that “he is who he is”. Heck, I’ve read that Josh McDaniels should be on everyone’s off season wish list to be their next head coach, or that Sean McDermott is the best available candidate.
McDaniels wrecked the Broncos. McDermott has never run a team, college or professional. Chip has a track record at college. He set up the Eagles in his vision. One of the most repeated things written on Chip before, during, and after his hiring was how he always wanted to learn. Now it seems that having no viable QB on the roster and a questionable defensive coordinator, he is a horrible coach because he cannot win with Sanchez and Bradford running his offense.
I agree with the sentiment that not upgrading the o-line killed the offense this year and that the chemistry is off with the whole team. What I disagree with is that Chip wants to leave and/or should be fired based on less than 3 years as coach and less than 1 year as the defacto GM. How is he supposed to learn if he never makes mistakes? I guess everyone assumes he cannot learn and does not have the ability to adapt.
Remember, without Brady, Belichick is 51-65.
McDaniels wrecked the Broncos but Chip destroyed the Eagles.
Look who’s coming out of the woodwork these days…!
Who?
McCoy 19-70 3-31 1 TD
Maclin 9-160 1 TD
DJax 2-66 1 TD
Andy Reid 1 WIN
Nick Foles not injured
———-
Murray 14-30 0 TD
Matthews 3-60 1 TD
R. Cooper 2-16
Chip Kelly blown out in loss
Sam Bradford hurt
Even the trolls have given up
What coulda been and…. what is. Absolutely disgusting you all put so much hope in Chip Kelly. He destroyed our team.
This. Is. Funny.
Even for a troll.
only 2 games out .. of the top pick. Come on Eagles. You can do it.
what’s easier to get to #1 pick or playoffs?
Good question. The shortest route, is the playoffs. The easier and most probably route is the #1 pick. (disclaimer I don’t know tie breakers etc for the #1 pick)
I’m lazy, or I’d do some quick research, but I have a feeling that 4 wins is rarely a record that qualifies for #1 overall.
always seems to be a 2 win team. 4 wins is good for around picks 4-7
Tenn has 2 win. Some with 3, a bunch with 4. Still easier than making the playoffs…
so chip is now crying since he now realizes he looks like a dumb arrogant ahole and we are supposed to care ? don’t think so….in this town when you talk a big game and are an overpaid punk and then fail we bury you….bye chip and take tommy ‘chip’ lawlor as your PR guy for your next job
Can you prescribe me the drugs you’re on?!
Well said. Take the entirety of the Philadelphia media as well. These chumps drank the koolaide and never stopped.
http://media.philly.com/images/20150910_05.jpg
so you want tommy lawlor to leave yet you troll his site?
mancrush much?
Why is every person who doesn’t drink the Koolaid a “troll” to you. That’s not a troll. His post isn’t trollish. You just disagree with him.
it is trollish to go on a guy’s message board and post for him to leave.
JUST STOP POSTING HERE
are you the Internet Nazi?
why are you answering when I question anon?
sock puppet much?
He’s a troll. If you ignore him he withers and dies.
no i won’t …i love attention from dooshes on this blog
suk me off then pound sand then repeat troll
i like to point out idiocy and the fact that for some reason mr football tommy lawlor keeps defending this fast talking fraud
Per a source in usc#USC’s athletic dept., a few former USC players who played for Chip in Philly told Haden they didn’t like playing under him.
You got a tweet or a source for that?
max meyer via bill barnewell. only usc player i can think of has to be matty b.
Barkley thought he was denied a legitimate shot to compete for the starting QB job. Ironically, another USC qb resigned with Chip last year. Obviously Sanchez had no problems playing for Chip.
Why is it obvious Sanchez likes playing for Chip?
If he didn’t like playing for Chip, why would he resign with the team this past offseason?
To get a paycheck???
Wow. that’s pretty bad.
sock puppet?
That’s such a great phrase . . . “sock puppet”!
There are only 4 USC players in the NFL during the past 3 years who played for Kelly:
Nelson Agholor
Matt Barkley
Kevin Graf
Mark Sanchez
______________
Of course, there are several USC players in the NFC who may have asked ex-Eagles who’re new teammates or friends on the Eagles — from the Pro Bowl or who knows where — what they think about Kelly.
For example:
TJ McDonald, Rams (Foles?)
OT Tyron Smith, Dallas (Peters?)
Robert Woods, Buffalo (McCoy?)
Malcom Smith, Raiders (Nate Allen?)
______________
Not saying the rumor’s accurate. But this kind of due diligence makes sense.
what a stretch.
What’s the “stretch”?
That Haden would do this kind of due diligence?
Not sure what you’re saying.
your post is such a stretch.
I call BS on the whole story
Of course you do. It doesn’t fit your narrative nor your love for Chip Kelly.
but it DOES fit your narrative
exactly. My narrative has always been professional players don’t want to wear sleep monitors. Nobody would like that.
there are probably hundreds of guys cut every year who would gladly wear a sleep monitor to play the game
Yeah but they aren’t good enough. Just like the Eagles.
Why?
All I did was, for the sake of discussion, take the Haden story at face value . . . and then gather facts.
What’s wrong with that exercise?
It was probably Marcus Allen.
Don’t see the connection.
But, since I have no first-hand knowledge — and you’ve viewed the exercise as a “stretch” — I’ll stop here.
Marcus Allen went to USC.
Of course he did. Played FB for Charles White before moving to HB and winning the Heisman.
What I meant is I see no connection between Marcus Allen and Chip Kelly’s time in the NFL.
but you saw a connection between Jason Peters and the offensive lineman on the Cowboys? Like they tweeted to each other about whether they like Chip Kelly? Are you serious?
Do you think players who make the Pro Bowl together don’t talk while in Hawaii about what playing for a particular coach is like? Or with a particular player?
Or when new teammates arrive from other teams, players aren’t curious what it was like on their former team?
Maybe not. Maybe players don’t talk face to face about these sorts of things.
It was an assumption I made — since, in my business, we do exactly that — in addressing the Haden story.
No I don’t think they talk about that.
AC don’t waste your time on that troll. He’s the one with the constant name changing that trolls this board regularly. Your well said and insightful comments are too advanced for someone of that trolls small intellect.
TD:
I’ve surrendered.
he and his sock puppet are trolling this fake story
AC, you are dealing with a troll, my friend. CryEaglesCry is a troll. A troll is sad person who goes online and takes the most absurdly contrarian stances against everyone who’s willing to respond. They do this because they enjoy irritating people with their irrationality and constant taunting and because they like getting a rise out of people. They feed on your frustrated responses and arguing with them. The best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them entirely. When they no longer get the rise they crave from other posters they go away, and our lovely message board goes back to being a pleasant place for logical and rational football talk.
Quality research. You my friend, are the consummate Barrister. I would hate to be cross examined by you on one of my investigations. Please tell me that you use your powers for good and are a Prosecutor.
So Matt Barkley didn’t like Chip or playing in his offense
Or didn’t like wearing sleep monitors.
Honestly, I think you’re underestimating the impact of losing guys like McCoy on our culture.
LeSean is an arrogant asshole, and arrogant assholes fucking hate to lose.
I’m sure guys like Murray and Bradford love winning, but I’m not sure whether they hate losing in quite the same way.
What do tiger woods,michael jordan, tom brady, kobe bryant have in common?
All married model? All have shoe deals?
Name 4 people that have never been in Cliff Claven’s kitchen.
They’re arrogant assholes, and they hate losing more than they like winning.
the good news is in this off season we really on need 2 things:
1. a defense
2. an offense
Yup Chip Kelly loaded up on Thanksgiving Turkey then shit the Eagles right out of his asshole the next morning. This team is so filled with turds. We need 4 new starters on the offensive line alone.
Chip said he never spoke with USC, I don’t know what is going on. He is extremely adamant about this and claims he was not even in Philly on friday as the report claims.
When Kelly says that neither he nor his agent had any contact of any kind with any person employed by or acting on behalf of USC, then I’ll know for sure he had zero contact.
Not saying he did.
Just lawyering his statement.
Even if he says that he isn’t under oath. People lie all the time.
True that.
interesting that he wasn’t in philly, but reporter said they met in philly. No USC sources seem to be on record.
Big difference between touched base and met with. Hard to tell which program is the bigger dumpster fire .
USC? Going to the Pac 12 championship with incredible recruiting classes every year. Not really a dumpster fire. They just need a coach who isn’t a drunk
USC fans don’t want Pac 12 titles. They want national titles.
Of course not. But all in all with what has happened with the coaches this season, about as much as you can ask for
we’re in the race in our division too
The reporters are brutal today. Pulling no punches on Chip.
Wish i could hear it
You didn’t miss much.
This is basically what Chip says:
1) Billy D and the defense: I have confidence — up to two weeks ago they were playing well
2) ILB position: They’re terrible. Kiko has an excuse, Kendricks doesn’t
3) Rowe: ok for a rookie
4) Cooper / Austin: Says Austin is a vet presence in the lockerroom / meetingroom. Says they look at Austin / Cooper together — 30 for 500yds is ok.
5) USC: Chip hasn’t met with any college, wasn’t even in Philly Friday.
6) Player attitudes: people get down when they’re losing, players care about winning but aren’t at the moment
7) Rethinking Methods: offseason
8) New Players: the roster is the roster — generally nothing good on the street. Backups have a chance to expand roles, likes what Barner is doing.
Thank you.
I think we all acknowledge his idiocy w comment 5 from what i can tell.. wtf does being in philly have to do with a job offer.. unless location of someone was part of the scenario.
Thks
There was a “report” (a tweet) that he met w/ USC in philly on friday.
Really can’t wait to see what Belichick’s scheme does to our culture. #missmatchcity
And he leads the league in injuries.. think the refs helped the broncos a ton ladt night
No offense to your bud, but this article is infinitely more thoughtful and analytical than Kempski’s. He seems ready to jump off a bridge over the state of the team.
agree, be interesting to see Tommy’s take on why Kempski’s been so negative this year.
No sex.
But RW and TT seem super happy
Lol. Honestly I haven’t seen Jimmy that negative, and he was like that even before the season started. I strongly believe he needs to get laid.
You be the one to tell his missus. I’ll not say a word personally.
Given the way the season has played out, why are people being critical of Jimmy being negative before the season started? Doesn’t that mean he was right?
He’s a troll.
Seems like a lot of reporters take Kelly personally. I read the press notes, and they come off as a bunch of immature brats.
Since Gronk is ‘week to week’ there’s no chance he will play against the Eagles, right?! I mean he’s only human?!
Thus team has lost as many games as Chip did in 4 years at Oregon.
I liked CK’s PC today. There’s no quit in him. Also, anyone who reported on the college stuff is completely full of it, and I’m getting sick and tired of the beat writers making shit up and just going with it.
I may be in the minority here, but I really hope that Chip won’t quit nor Lurie will fire him after only 3 seasons.
However history has shown that Lurie was willing to give head coaches at least 4 years before pulling the trigger!
Beat writers making shit up & just going with it…….
That’s like asking the sun not to rise & set tomorrow.
Pats are going to be down Edelman, Gronk and Lewis when we play them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnqZl_blT7E
…and still LaFell will catch 21 balls for 257 Yards and 3 TDs…
Ahh… the bygone era of three minute montages.
Also, I fear that in this montage, the Eagles are the ocean, the speed bag and the shorts with the tiny inseam…
New York Jets released defensive end Quinton Coples on Monday…
We should put in a claim on waivers and if we get him plug him in at OG. He has first round talent!
too late he went to Miami i think.
Eagles making lots of roster churn today, signed Barret Jones, coached by Stoulland, Mike Lee 6’1″ 185 corner that was with Falcons and LB Brandon Hepburn
At whose expense?
Had a Julian V., Caroll III to IR, they also moved up a PS player last week (WR)
For who? For what?!
If only Barrett Jones was just a quarter percent in the pros of the college player he was then I would be excited but for a guy that was so effective and so good in college he really stunk it up in the pros. I think the best the Eagles can hope for is getting lucky with a Mathis 2.0.
Pat Haden told me #USC did not interview Chip Kelly.
He’s got your number?! 😉
how can you ever doubt the inside sources that people have here?
sorry – was a from a tweet- retweeted by Kempski
I know I know I know, mate.
Had Chip taken the USC job, at least some people in Los Angeles would’ve enjoyed much shorter drive times.
That’s. Not. Bad.
how does your mind work? seriously. did it just come to you out of nowhere, “USC job taken… traffic is awful in LA…Chip’s drives are short, …” it must just come to people with wit, very jealous.
Re: Sunday’s Historical Odds
Since going 9-7 in 2002 — the past 12+ seasons — the Patriots have not lost a home game following a road loss after the month of September.
And losing at home after a road loss has happened only once, in 2012.
Pats lost to the eventual SB Champion Ravens 31-30 on 9/23 in G-3 of the season — after a road loss to the Kevin Kolb-led Cardinals 20-18.
Heck, since 2002, the Patriots have lost 2 straight only twice. In 2009.
Besides the Cards-Ravens losses, the Pats lost back-to-back road games to the Dolphins and eventual SB Champion Saints in G-12, G-13 (11/30, 12/06).
Of course, the past is no predictor of what’ll happen next week in the NFL.
But I’d say the Eagles have a sheer up-hill climb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSav51fVlKU
Ahh who am I kidding, there’s no miraculous run in this team.
No Gronk, Edelman, Amendola, Dion Lewis, we may have a shot. Though i’m not sure can score.
Brady and Belichick v. Bradford and Kelly.
I’ll take the home team. And bet the house.
Pats have been without Gronk before post-Randy Moss/Wes Welker era.
And Pats always seem to win at home after a road loss.
no danny amendola, no dion lewis, no Patrick Cheung who what we crying about the Eagles ??
If we dont change our schemes we will lose, regardless.
Brady mad. Brady smash weak birdies.
Look out!! Sammy turning GREEN!!!
PREDICTION :
Patriots will put up NFL Record 72 points against Eagles. They will show Chip Loser Kelly how a hurry up offense can be successful.
Is that really the record? Very attainable.
try to check out Jenkins from Eskin questions on WIP, replaying a lot of it now – Jenkins is as clear as he can be saying coaches have not held players accountable, so he as a leader on the team cant hold the players accountable, that it comes from the coaches first, then the leaders on the team can follow through. Whether or not Jenkins should feel handcuffed by the coaches not to call other players out, he is definitely saying what many fans have been saying (most guessing at) but now we know in the locker room, behind closed doors, the coaches are perceived by leaders of the team as being too easy on players messing up etc.
he says, “as a team we do not hold anyone accountable for what they do on the field”
that is damning and explains how you get to where they are right now. Cooper, Miles, Maxwell, Kendricks, etc… not afraid at all to return to the locker room after a game, to return to practice after a game, there will be no consequences to bad playing, to checking out, to just cashing in a paycheck. It will all be, “we all made mistakes, we need to individually look within yourself, figure out what you did wrong and clear it up.”
I hear this interview in the car and almost puked all over the steering wheel.
Jenkins also said that the D was predictable in the red zone and that lead to just as many scores allowed as blown assignments did.
Brutal.
his missed tackles not helping, but agree — they don’t make any moves in-season, hoping they’ll get good play out of players BIlly B is the ultimate accountability person and that seems to work well for them.
Wow. Case in point. Chris Harper just recently got called up from the practice squad and he’s already been cut because of one muffed punt. That is accountability my friend.
They don’t play games up there. I hope Chip is paying attention.
yeah, heard the predictable thing when doing something else, and was like, “who said that?” couldnt be Jenkins, a player, calling own defense too predictable. Jenkins from his play and his honesty is a favorite.
Barwin was also on today and just replayed his quote, you can hear anger in his voice, how there are at least a couple, i think, of players he would like to call out, but cant because he is on the radio.
Maxwell – easy, maybe too obvious.
Kendricks – seemed all over the place in game, in a bad way
Alonzo
Jenkins spoke out? Hope we all didnt care for him too much. Hes as good as gone next year. Haha
Conversely…the Patriots had a WR, Chris Harper, one of their only remaining healthy WRs, muff a punt in snowy weather. Within 24 hours he was cut.
So if Belichick was the coach on this team, we would probably have like 2 WRs left. Agholor and Ajirotutu.
And you’re upset by the loss of Austin and Cooper, why?
Don’t you put emotions in my mouth sir. It will be a glorious day when Cooper is gone.
My apologies, fine sir. I mistook your statement of fact as a statement of disappointment.
Interesting, you guys think people perform better getting fired for one mistake. I know I don’t, it would just make me nervous and play not to lose.
Priceless > “That’s like being the Detmer with the weakest arm.”
Weather Channel Alert: the trolls are out in force today. We’re seeing another name change show up on Doppler radar as well, so be on the lookout. Incidents of trolls liking their own posts using different names are also on the rise.
Just remember, the best way to handle the trolls is to treat them like everyone else in their lives does: pretend they don’t exist.
Be safe out there, people!
This. Times 1 million.
This doesn’t hurt either.
http://i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-2b0c/k2-_a64530b1-1aef-4109-8bac-d2d25ea05f76.v1.jpg
Should prob get lax or back in the fold as qb coach
Assuming that was Lazor, agreed.
So now Jenkins and Barwin are basically openly questioning Davis’ leadership and play calling?
Red flag. When you have key veterans doing that it signals the beginning of the end for a coach.
At least were not Cleveland
unbelievable
i was just expecting them to miss it….but that was really cruel
really puts our issues in perspective. Gotta be hell being a browns fan.
there is a little fan made documentary on youtube called “only in cleveland” that goes over the history of the Browns since their return to the NFL. It’s only 24 minutes long but it’s pretty good and i think will help any fan of any other team feel better about their teams situation
At least the Sixers admit to tanking.
but Riley Cooper is still here.