Six weeks ago the Eagles were a trendy Super Bowl pick. They made a splash in bringing in Mathews and Murray, giving them a stable of talented RBs. Kelly cleared the locker room of guys who did not 100% buy into his system (Mathis, McCoy) and he went out and got his QB in Bradford. They made some moves on defense (Maxwell, Thurmond) which were lauded and expected to turn around the secondary. The general consensus of the talking heads was that the division was a foregone conclusion and a deep playoff run was in the cards.
Fast forward one month into the season...
The Birds are 1-3. The vaunted running game ranks 30th in the league at 70 YPG. The OL is a mess and the Mastermind can't seem to figure out how to use his slew of star RBs. After a month the Eagles are averaging 3.1 YPC, good for second worst in the league. FA prize Murray is averaging just over a yard per carry and has voiced his frustration at his lack of touches. Bradford hasn't been resurrected as so many predicted and his play has been pedestrian at best (6TDs, 4 INTs, 82 QB rating). The passing game has been anemic, just two pass plays over 30 yards and no deep game to speak of. They're also struggling mightily to get the ball to their wideouts: while WR Jordan Matthews leads the team in receptions he's followed by two RBs (Sproles, Mattjews) and a TE (Ertz). And while throwing to those positions is a staple of Kelly's O, none of those guys have more than 15 catches. Simply put the O is anemic: 29th in YPG and 23rd in PPG, 30th in rushing yards per game, 26th in passing yards per game, and next to last in YPC. That's pretty bad. From a supposed genius who is at the cutting edge of offensive strategy it's downright awful.
Things aren't much better on the other side of the ball. While the front 7 is decent the supposedly upgraded secondary has been a flop. Through September big ticket FA prize Maxwell has allowed a perfect QB rating, allowing 15 completions on 19 targets for 250+ yards and 2 TDs. Thurmond has 2 picks after moving to safety but has also been beaten plenty. Malcolm Jenkins is basically the only guy in their secondary playing consistently well.
Needless to say, the fans and much of the media is up in arms. Fans are already calling for his head. That's not unexpected. What is a surprise is the lashing he's getting from the media, who normally gush over "Big Balls Chip". This morning noted curmudgeon and all around prick Buzz Bissinger called him "a fraud". SB Nation published a piece today claiming Kelly is "running 'The Prodicers' scam in Philly". Howard Eskin (I know, consider the source) was on NFLN this morning claiming that many people feel Kelly will bolt for the college ranks should the season tank. And a lost season is a definite possibility; the next two months feature road games in Dallas, Carolina, and New England. Before the seasons midpoint they will play the Giants at home before going on the road to Carolina and Dallas. It's realistic to think they could be 2-6 midway through the season. If that's the case grab your popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the fireworks.
They've gotten off to rocky starts before only to come on strong late so I can't write them off yet. How many times have we prematurely scheduled the Eagles funeral? At the same time I think it's unrealistic to expect Kelly to have the same late season success as Reid, who really did own November and December.
Thoughts, other than general happiness? Could this really be Kelly's last year? He has total control, rare in the NFL, would he give it up so quickly? We can only hope...because Kelly retreating back to the college ranks would top Saban's Miami Traveling Medicine Show. Sabah left the Phins in the lurch but he wasn't there very long, it didn't take much to redirect the franchise. The Eagles though, gave Chip the keys and watched as he completely altered the franchise over the last 3 years. If he were to leave now he'd be leaving behind an incredible mess...
He's thinking what he would look like in spurs eating BBQ at Texas.
And fuck Howard Eskin with a rusty spoon...
There were more than a few posters here who said during the pre-season, "The Eagles look in mid season form and we just plain suck," as if Pre-season is a harbinger to come..:)
A remember in years like this, the number one goal in Philly is, if nothing else, to win the Giants games.
Oh Chris, how I hope you will experience the joy I look forward to every year when it becomes undeniable to Redskins fans how bad their team actually is.
As if that's an impressive accomplishment.
Now, if they can just get to 2-3 they think they are back in it. They are even trying to negotiate 1-4.
They've gone from 12-4 and hosting the NFC championship to let's just win our division now.
It's the Philly mentality...begging for a winner.
Their biggest issue, other than their OL which is in shambles right now, is QB.
They don't have one, and like a handful of teams in the NFL will just keep spinning their wheels until they get one.
Funny, when they were winning the offense was "complex" and "had layers" to it........
Now, all I hear is it is simplistic and and not much to it, and teams have it figured out.
WTF......the media blows.............
Chris...very true and really they aren't out of it.
But, that year they started 1-3 and every loss was an AFC loss.
They are already 0-3 in the conference.
Plus......if you can't block up front, that offense is going to be obliterated.
Exactly.
And we play them on Monday night?
I hate Monday night games for The Giants.
Sunday night games as well.
This season is far from over.
And we damn sure need to win this upcoming Sunday to keep the pressure on Dallas.
If we beat The 49ers and Philly early (when's the last time we beat Philly early in the season?)
I think that kills The Eagles.
And fuck Howard Eskin with a rusty spoon...
I was reticent to cite Eskin but it fit the narrative of the thread. I knew you'd have something to say about him haha. You've gotta be the only BBIer who hates him more than I do and I know him in "real life" (distant relative of my wife, through marriage). All I can say is that his "media persona" isn't really much of a persona at all, he carries himself the same way when he's miles from the cameras/microphones. He's not a "shock jock radio personality" as much as he's a smug prick who just happens to have a job in the media.
Funny, when they were winning the offense was "complex" and "had layers" to it........
Now, all I hear is it is simplistic and and not much to it, and teams have it figured out.
WTF......the media blows.............
This is just it - NFL DCs have gone to school the last couple offseasons to learn how to better defend their offense. In the end, football still comes down to players vs. players. And they got rid of their best players over the last 2 seasons...
They had two deep completions against the Skins, they were their longest pass plays of the season. Like I said, two pass plays of more than 30 yards in 16 quarters of football. It's a combination of things, primarily poor pass blocking and receivers who are struggling to separate, but they really have no deep passing game to speak of.
The arrogance are the Rex Ryan's and the Jim Harbaugh's of the world. It really say a lot when you can go to multiple League Championship games and end up on the hot seat and canned.
Fuck Chip Kelly.
You think Spagnuolo is the only defensive coach to have done that? It was highly innovative when Kelly first arrived but it's been 3+ seasons now. Defenses have adjusted. If Chip can't do some adjusting/tweaking himself I don't see the struggles ending. Personally in order to regain its affectiveness I think it's going to take a complete re-tooling, adding traditional offensive elements to his scheme. But we don't know if he's capable of that. First of all it wouldn't be an easy task to begin with, second of all will his ego even allow him to attempt doing so?
I'm not counting them out, I explicitly said in the OP that I can't do that, due to being just a quarter of the way into the season and their past ability to turn things around after slow starts. But I see nothing wrong with discussing their struggles, and I think it's worth mentioning that this is a new Eagles team. Can Kelly find the late season success after a slow start, something Reid excelled at? It was one of Reid's finest abilities as a coach and it's not something we can just assume Kelly can do.
There were more than a few posters here who said during the pre-season, "The Eagles look in mid season form and we just plain suck," as if Pre-season is a harbinger to come..:)
Yes, lots of hand-wringing here when they started the preseason 3 - 0 with wins over Indy, Baltimore and the Packers by a combined score of 115 - 53.
Quote:
at this point is as silly as counting us out after 0-2
I'm not counting them out, I explicitly said in the OP that I can't do that, due to being just a quarter of the way into the season and their past ability to turn things around after slow starts. But I see nothing wrong with discussing their struggles, and I think it's worth mentioning that this is a new Eagles team. Can Kelly find the late season success after a slow start, something Reid excelled at? It was one of Reid's finest abilities as a coach and it's not something we can just assume Kelly can do.
Wasn't addressing you per se..Just generalizing..Should have been clearer..
Bradford is a statue and defenses don't have to account for him.
We saw it from Carson Palmer the first time he came back from his ACL injury, he was afraid of getting hit low and kept looking down..
It is a hard thing for a QB to get over when they first come back..
Everyone is getting too excited around here. Loooooong way to go.
I want the Giants to whip them on Monday night so badly.
4 games now and the Eagles clearly look like a mediocre football team. The Giants look like a slightly above average football team and have a one game lead on Philly. If things hold true to form the Giants will finish with a better record. It's all we have to go on at this point. Doesn't mean it unfolds the way we hope but there's evidence to support the belief that Philly is in for a long year.
The only saving grace is Bradford could just be learning a new offense and maybe he peaks over the next month or so. That might be a stretch but it's not outlandish to believe it could happen.
Right now the Giants are in the best shape in the East. They just have to hold serve the rest of the season. Go 4-2 in the East and they absolutely have to beat Dallas in 3 weeks. 4-2 in the East and win the manageable games on the schedule. 10-6 wins the east no problem. 10 wins.
That is a stark difference to last year.
Everyone is getting too excited around here. Loooooong way to go.
Exactly.
Have to hope they lose to the Saints because should they beat us in that scenario, they can't tie us (assuming we beat SF Sunday night).
That being said, I can see us losing by double digits again to them down there. I'm assuming they come out in those silly all black uni's to rev up their lowlife fanbase and beat us because we won't be able to control both sides of the LOS vs them, as usual.