I think the Chip Kelly experiment has failed
- Thread starter WestSideLion
- Start date
The Birds are looking OK now, but I'd still like to hire Kelly as our "Head Coach in Waiting."
NFL East is weak and Eagles could still make playoffs. However, Kelly has so decimated the roster that the future for Eagles fans is bleak. OL will be terrible next year. Peters has not played as an All Pro and will be gone. Who are the guards, Kelly got rid of his starters for nothing. No deep passing threat and no QB of the future. Result, Kelly will be at Texas or USC next year, Kelly's sanctions are over and either of the two schools can easily match NFL dollars.
They lost and thoroughly deserved to. Their penalties took TDs off the board, they missed FGs and a PAT. For as good as the offense looked for 3 drives, it had two - TWO - great opportunities at the 50 late to get points and ice the game.
When it counted, the defense let a mediocre Washington offense go 90 yards for the winning TD. Season over at 1-3 (0-2 in the division and 0-3 in conference.
Kelly's done. He's lost this team and the fans. Bring on UT.
Those two drives killed them up 20-16. Couldn't even get a first down to keep the defense off the field. He should have used his timeouts in the last two minutes to preserve time. Is there anyone who thought the Redskins wouldn't score? The defense was gassed.
He was a bad fit from the start...a poor man's Steve Spurrier. He'll go back to college and be successful again...at that level.
There are just so many problems across that team. It all looks broken right now. Lose to the Saints next week and they'll be 1-5 at their bye.
It's almost worth tanking for a high draft pick at this point, so the next head coach has something to work with.
Howie Roseman is somewhere in the bowels of the NovaCare complex laughing. Chip ain't the genius he thought he was.
The problem is the Eagles let Kelly be GM. He is a bad GM. His system already worked. Every system will work better with better talent.
Oh, I agree. I firmly believe in Occum's Razor. All things equal, the simplest explanation is usually correct. Chip gutting the roster was a bad move. The entire NFL community wasn't wrong in calling him crazy for doing it.
He completely did this on his own and I now suspect Lurie was putting him on the spot to assess his long-term viability. There's only one place to point.
Interesting read from Bleacher Report:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...failing-and-he-shows-no-willingness-to-change
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...failing-and-he-shows-no-willingness-to-change
Come January, the following will be said
"Ladies and gentleman, on behalf of the Regents, Alumni and fans, I would like to announce the new head football coach for the University of Texas - Chip Kelly".
"Ladies and gentleman, on behalf of the Regents, Alumni and fans, I would like to announce the new head football coach for the University of Texas - Chip Kelly".
A
anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
According to what I read today, the Dolphins fired their coach, so he could be available for the Iggles.
It's premature to say the Chip Kelly experiment has failed. If the Eagles fire him, which I don't think will happen at the end of this season, another NFL team will scoop him up right away.
Kelly's off-season mistake was not investing more in the offensive line. The Eagles guards are problematic. If they can avoid injuries to key personnel, the Eagles will get better as the season progresses and still have a shot at a 9-7 season and maybe even an outside shot at the playoffs given how balanced the division is this year.
The inability to cover underneath crossing patterns killed the Eagles yesterday.
Kelly's off-season mistake was not investing more in the offensive line. The Eagles guards are problematic. If they can avoid injuries to key personnel, the Eagles will get better as the season progresses and still have a shot at a 9-7 season and maybe even an outside shot at the playoffs given how balanced the division is this year.
The inability to cover underneath crossing patterns killed the Eagles yesterday.
Their performance this year has been terrible. As such, questions do have to be asked.
That said, I think some are leaping to conclusions about Kelly that I don't agree with.
Kelly came in and made a 4-win team a winning team his 1st two seasons. He wasn't the GM then, but he had input on the team's makeup.
Folks seem to forget that the Eagles really struggled at the end of last year. I think Kelly concluded that the roster at that time could not compete, so he tried a radical overhaul. Whether it works remains to be seen, though I think he needs a little more time, and some of the injured players to return, before you can draw too many conclusions.
Evan Mathis wasn't the huge loss that some project him as. His play had diminished, and his agent and he refused to budge from their huge salary demands. The Birds wanted him back, but for 2 years not 4, and for a lot less than he was seeking. He left money on the table from the Birds final offer, and ended up signing for Denver for a lot less, and hasn't done all that well there.
I would have liked to have had Macklin back, but the Birds got outbid for him. There's only so much $$ that can spent on WRs.
McCoy was a nice RB, but I doubt that he would be all that effective behind this year's OL. As someone else noted, Jason Peters does not seem to be playing at his All-Pro level. Between that, and their injury at OG, the OL really is a mess.
LBers are a mess as well, but that's as much due to injuries as it is to any roster changes.
The DBs remain a problem. Their big FA signing at CB seems like an overspend. Still, when the DL gets pressure on the QB, then the Birds' DBs seem OK. Without any pressure, which is an ongoing issue for the Eagles, their DBs seem subpar at best.
The FG situation is a mess, but it's another thing that can be chalked up to injuries.
Even if healthy, I have questions as to whether this is a lineup that can go far in the playoffs. I would, at least, like to see how they do with most of the players healthy.
The Chipper is certainly under some pressure.
That said, I think some are leaping to conclusions about Kelly that I don't agree with.
Kelly came in and made a 4-win team a winning team his 1st two seasons. He wasn't the GM then, but he had input on the team's makeup.
Folks seem to forget that the Eagles really struggled at the end of last year. I think Kelly concluded that the roster at that time could not compete, so he tried a radical overhaul. Whether it works remains to be seen, though I think he needs a little more time, and some of the injured players to return, before you can draw too many conclusions.
Evan Mathis wasn't the huge loss that some project him as. His play had diminished, and his agent and he refused to budge from their huge salary demands. The Birds wanted him back, but for 2 years not 4, and for a lot less than he was seeking. He left money on the table from the Birds final offer, and ended up signing for Denver for a lot less, and hasn't done all that well there.
I would have liked to have had Macklin back, but the Birds got outbid for him. There's only so much $$ that can spent on WRs.
McCoy was a nice RB, but I doubt that he would be all that effective behind this year's OL. As someone else noted, Jason Peters does not seem to be playing at his All-Pro level. Between that, and their injury at OG, the OL really is a mess.
LBers are a mess as well, but that's as much due to injuries as it is to any roster changes.
The DBs remain a problem. Their big FA signing at CB seems like an overspend. Still, when the DL gets pressure on the QB, then the Birds' DBs seem OK. Without any pressure, which is an ongoing issue for the Eagles, their DBs seem subpar at best.
The FG situation is a mess, but it's another thing that can be chalked up to injuries.
Even if healthy, I have questions as to whether this is a lineup that can go far in the playoffs. I would, at least, like to see how they do with most of the players healthy.
The Chipper is certainly under some pressure.
Not to pile on, but on Washington's first drive when they had a 3rd and 19 at their own 11 and a draw play goes for 42 yards, how could anyone not have seen that coming? I called that play, it was a no-brainer call in that situation and it goes for 42 yards. The 'Skins got 3 out of that drive. I mean, really, you've seen that play called in a similar situation a million times and it almost never gets you a first down. That HAD to be a breakdown.
well as you say, a couple of things
1) the 4 win team Chip took over was really a 4 win team. By that I mean a don't and complete mess. IIRC Eagles had some injuries then too, had some QB problems with injuries. The Jim Wasburn experiment and the wide 9 went really bad, but they had some players and some talent, no both sides of the ball
2) they didn't have to anything to keep Mathis, yes he wanted more money, but he also had a contract, so he could have sat and got nothing, but the Eagles didn't have to release him, especially after releasing Herrimans (sp?). They could have forced him to play, as he did other years, and he still has more left than the guys who have replaced him. I have no problem letting Trent Cole, Todd Herrimans etc go. Macklin wasn't IMHO, coming back to the Birds at any money, he wanted to play for Andy and he had that right,
3) Jason Peters isn't playing at pro bowl level because he isn't playing, and when he has he's been hurt
4) basically agree with the rest, the D has played hard, but when you let Kirk Cousins drive the ball 90 yds with the game on the line, that's tough to stomach. Ask Lionjim, but I think its his first game without a TO!!
5) all this said, if we make the makeable kick vs ATL. kick and x point and another makeable kick yesterday, the Birds are 3-1!! and Chips a genius.!!
6) lastly, last yrs ten wins are masked by some early season wins that maybe should have been L's except for an INT return here, a punt return there, and melt down by Jacksonville to throw in there!!
Well, if Philly fans could stop doing this, Philly would be able to get a good coach...
I don't understand the 'took a 4 win team to a 10 win team' rationale. Since 2006 the Eagles won 11, 8, 11, 11, 10, 8 and then 4 games. He didn't take a perennial doormat and all of the sudden turn them into a contender (please pronounce it like Rocky would). All of the optimism was because the team he was taking over was full of offensive talent that seemed perfect for his scheme and he did not have to go through a 5 year rebuild. All that talent is gone and they are 1-6 in their last 7 meaningful games
Not piling on at all. That play was just a debacle by the Eagles' D. The Birds only rushed 3 on the play, so there were 8 defenders between the LOS and the 1st down marker, and not 1 of them could tackle the RB before he got a 1st.
I'd like to think the Eagles can do better, but there's been some obvious lapses in judgement atop that organization. Kelly was a high risk/reward hire, but the precedent existed for gimmicky college coaches failing in the NFL.
Factor in the surprising move to give him complete roster control and the pendulum swung toward the risk side of that equation. At least Philbin was largely told what players to use...those mistakes weren't his.
Evan Mathis would be a HUGE upgrade on the interior of the OL. That's where much of the missed assignments and disruptive pressure is coming from. The move to cut him came down to ego on Kelly's part. A great leader can't be ego driven in the absence of competent alternatives. Chip's learning that in spades right now.
For the life of me, I can't understand why the Eagles defensive coaches can't figure out that their pass protection schemes suck. They've made how many DB move over the past few seasons and the results are the same. There's only one direction to point.
The Bleacher Report article sums things up well: Chip can still turn this thing around, but he's shown no desire to make the changes necessary to do so.
bwifan
Well-Known Member
For me the Chip Kelly GM experiment has failed so far. He brought in solid talent for the talent he traded away except for the Oline people who left. Herremans/Mathis were let go and no Oline drafted since Lane Johnson or free agent signing other than Moffitt who was retired for several years. I don't think he has forgotten how to coach and he knows what the problems are but there is no one currently to fix them. He can't draft any players until the next draft and all free agent oline guys are same as dennis kelly and moffitt. This failure fails completely on him. You simply can't use the next man up philosophy in the pro ranks where in college you have a all state/all american players backing up your high school all american. He should know this and it is directly on his shoulders. Their oline is a disaster and there is no help on the way.
If Kelly was trying to turn the Eagles into the NFL version of the Oregon Ducks, the first thing he should have done was keep Tebow as his QB.
It seems like the catch by agholor was the only tough catch made by the eagles receivers all year. Granted, bradford has been off, but unless the ball hits the receivers in the hand infront of the numbers, they can't catch it. Forget it if the DB is near them. I can't believe he can say with a straight face that time of possession doesn't matter. It's so bizarre, I mean there's a pretty basic football for football (especially if you don't have a tom brady), but he thinks his system can trump everything.
Yep. When is the last time in the NFL that a wholesale roster makeover has worked in one season (which also included a qb change)? I mean, the eagles tried that as recently as 2011....
I said way before this season that far too many people were mistaking Kelly's hubris for genius. The guy would believe he's the smartest person in the room at a Rhodes Scholars convention. His system (which really amounts to "run more plays faster") worked relatively briefly, and then the rest of the NFL had plenty of tape and figured out how to defend against it. Kelly saw what he had on the oline, and still got rid of Mathis, which means he is a horrible judge of talent and play, or completely arrogant, or maybe both. Then just look at his play calling - up by 4 with 5 minutes to play at the 50 and instead of having that faith in his scheme and culture, he goes into a shell instead of going for the throat. And let's not forget that Kelly turned the Eagles down and announced he was returning to Oregon before the NCAA sanctions rumors became stronger, at which point he turned tail, went back on his word, and to the Eagles he went. Kelly is just not a good NFL coach, period.
