I don’t think any Eagles fan expected the Eagles to lose to the Falcons. We were shocked. The matchup made too much sense, the Eagles’ defensive line is awesome, the Falcons’ offensive line isn’t awesome. The Eagles’ offense is good, the Falcons’ defense is bad. Simple math, Eagles will win. Write it in stone. In our heads, at least. We all know how it turned out. Not good.
0-1.
Okay, fine, the Cowboys are next, without Dez Bryant, and without key players on their defense. It’s the Eagles’ home opener, they looked good and gained momentum in the second half of the Atlanta game, things should go better.
Nope.
0-2.
Not many, if any, predicted the Eagles to be in this situation. I didn’t, at least. I have a bitter taste in my mouth, and have been sluggish all week. Anytime I think about the beat down the Cowboys put on us on our home field I instantly get into a funk. The rivalry is one of the best in sports, and anytime the Eagles lose to the Cowboys it sucks, like a lot, but when it happens in that embarrassing fashion? Man, it REALLLYYY sucks.
Some fans are ready to give up on the season, some are asking for Chip Kelly to be fired, some even, are calling for his neck. “How are you not able to run the ball after paying a running back $40 million dollars!?!”
Trust me when I say I get it. Frustration is at an all time high and fans want to see this Eagles team start to play to its full potential. I haven’t jumped ship yet and neither should you.
First of all, don’t you think Chip Kelly deserves the benefit of the doubt? Like just a little bit, at least? Before you say no, just take a look at his track record. In his first two seasons as head coach, Chip went 20-12 and in both seasons he had to resort to his backup quarterback. Not to mention, he broke franchise records in points and yards. I don’t want to just ignore this season, but my point is Chip Kelly knows how to get his offense on track. He’s not called an innovator for nothing.
Right now, the defense is playing really well as a unit and the offense looks, to put it nicely, out of sync. What’s causing the offense to struggle? Some of it is a schematic issue, but the main concern is players are failing to execute. Blocking, catching the ball, basic fundamentals. It’s not as if the Eagles don’t have the talent to win games. And I’d like to think the coaching staff, led by Chip Kelly is pretty freakin’ good as well.
It’s easy for fans to freak out and overreact to bad performances like the Eagles have put out there against the Falcons and Cowboys. But, please, remember it’s week 3 and that the season is long. The Eagles started 6-2 in 2014 and finished with a 10-6 record. The Green Bay Packers started last season with a 1-3 record and ended up in the NFC Championship game. A lot can change during a season, folks.
A lot has to happen for the Eagles to get on track, but with Chip Kelly at the helm, the Eagles will get things fixed. This whole narrative of the league catching up to Chip Kelly and that his offense is “figured out” is ridiculous. Sure, it can be predictable, but that’s the NFL. Teams figure out tendencies of other teams. The Chicago Bears under Lovie Smith ran a Tampa-2, everyone knew it, but they still dominated for years. The Seattle Seahawks run a cover-3 and everyone knows it yet, they still dominate.
Chip Kelly is looked at as being prideful and egotistical. You think that game against the Cowboys doesn’t light a little fire under him? Maybe a little extra motivation. You think he likes hearing his own player(s) say the Cowboys were calling out the Eagles plays? Not a chance. This dude has dominated at every single level he has coached at and I expect nothing less in the NFL. There comes a point in a game when execution and beating the man across from you is the most important thing. The Eagles haven’t done so in 2015, but the good news is that is fixable. It’s not as if the problem is impossible to fix.
In the offseason, fans were preaching “trust in Chip”, and after just two regular season games those same people are ready to give up. Philadelphia fans are tough to please. We just want to win and we want that freakin’ Lombardi trophy brought to the city. Nothing else.
I have confidence in our head coach. I have confidence the offense will get rolling and that this Eagles team will begin to click like everyone expected in the offseason. Will it happen this week? Maybe, it may take some more time. But, there are few coaches in this league I want leading the show more than Chip Kelly. Please, feel free to come back to me in week 14 if the Eagles are out of the playoff contention and tell me I was wrong. That’s fine, I just don’t see that happening.
You can say Chip Kelly hasn’t faced this much adversity since entering the league in 2013. I’m excited to see the next chess move he has up his sleeve. Excited, with absolute confidence.