After the Thursday night loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, I think it can be ascertained that the Philadelphia Eagles are a work in progress. While the offense clicked in each of the team's first two games, it was sloppier than a man, who had just been injected with anesthesia at the dentist, trying to eat spaghetti. The defense and special teams have already had so many ups and downs, psychiatrists all across the country are contemplating diagnosing them as bipolar.
From the first time the Eagles touched the football, trouble was bound. After allowing a long kickoff return, the Eagles defense stood firm in forcing the Chiefs to a three-and-out to start the game. Then returnman Damaris Johnson called for a fair catch inside the 10-yard line, but forgot to actually catch the football. This led to a field goal by Kansas City. Then on Michael Vick's second pass attempt, he stared down receiver, was picked off, and that led to a touchdown (pick-six). Before the Eagles knew it, they were down 10-0. Sadly, these weren't the only two Eagles turnovers in the first half. They decided to do it two more times. Center Jason Kelce appeared as if he wanted to snap the ball to a quarterback under him (his hands, not his whole body), but unfortunately for him and the team, Vick was in the shotgun formation, and while Vick tried lunging to recover the fumble, he wasn't able to do it in time. Kelce later snapped the ball over Vick's head for his second fumble of the game. Vick was able to land on it this time. Still in the first half, while Vick was moving out of the pocket, he tried forcing a ball to Riley Cooper, was off-balance, and ended up getting intercepted as a result. The team also had a lost fumble in the final seconds of the game to finish with five on the day. Also, while the team went without a penalty in the first half, it was penalized six times for 45 yards in the second half. Like I said, the term "sloppy" really didn't do this offense any justice.
When the offense did score, it was with Oregon-like speed. Vick threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jason Avant after a quick drive. Alex Henery kicked a 29-yard field goal after a fairly quick possession. Lastly, LeSean McCoy burst through a hole for a 41-yard touchdown run to end a lightning-quick drive. Vick had his poorest outing of the season, completing only 13 of 30 pass attempts for 201 yards (6.7 per), 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 49.4. He was also sacked five times. He did run the ball very effectively - gaining 95 yards on 5 carries (19.0 per), including a career long 61-yard scamper. LeSean McCoy had another great game - running the ball 20 times for 158 yards (7.9 per), and a touchdown. Jason Avant led the way at receiver, catching 5 passes for 87 yards (17.4), and a score. DeSean Jackson finished with an underwhelming 3 catches for 62 yards (20.7 per). Riley Cooper and Brent Celek added two catches a piece. The team gained 431 yards on 63 plays (6.8 per), including 260 on the ground on 28 carries (9.3 per). So, all-in-all, the offense's overall stats were decent - well, if one doesn't look at penalties and turnovers...
The defense, while still nothing one would want to write home about, played much better than they did against San Diego. They didn't create any turnovers, which would have been a great help to the struggling offense, but they did sack Alex Smith five times, knock down five passes, hit Smith six times, and accumulate seven tackles for a loss.
The special teams was anything but special. Alex Henery missed a very makeable field goal. Damaris Johnson fumbled an early punt and wasn't able to generate much on successive returns. Punter Donnie Jones was fairly effective, in pinning the Chiefs inside the 20-yard line on two of four punts.
This loss set the Eagles back to 1-2 on the year, which is a big blow for a number of reasons - one being they'll have to travel to Denver to take on the unbeaten Broncos in a week and a half, so 1-3 could be staring them right in the face before long. The only semi-good news for them is the fact they play in the NFC East and a 9-7 or even an 8-8 team could potentially win the division this year.
The two stats that spoke volumes to me from this game were the turnovers and the time of possession. Just like in the San Diego game, Philadelphia only had the ball for around 20 minutes, while Kansas City had it for nearly 40. Chip Kelly's offense is fun, fast, and exciting, but when it isn't generating first downs consistently, that puts added pressure on a very mediocre defense. The team has the ability to score very quickly and put opposing defenses in tough spots, but when this isn't occurring, it could spell trouble for the team. That's why, like I said in my post last week, I think Kelly needs to adjust his offense some and alter tempos more. This will make it more unpredictable in the long-run and allow for his defense to get more rest. Kelly and his offense can't keep having their defense out on the field for two-thirds of games and expect to compete for a division title this year. Some adjustments will need to be made.
At this point, I think it's difficult to know where the Eagles are as a team, as I insinuated with my opening paragraph. The offense likely isn't quite as good as they showed in their first two games - at least not yet, but not nearly as bad as it looked last night. The defense likely isn't as bad as it showed against the Chargers, but not as good as they were for most of the Redskins and Chiefs games. Like I said, the team is a definite work in progress. Hopefully, with the extra time between games, wounded players will have enough time to fully heal and Chip Kelly and his staff will have enough time to make proper adjustments and properly prepare the team for their upcoming game against the Denver Broncos.
Before I wrap this up, I'd like to make one final point. While a lot of sports-writers will probably point to last night's game as a prime example of why Chip Kelly's strategy won't succeed at this level and that Michael Vick is no different in this system than he was in any other, I think last night was a special occasion. It's kind of funny in thinking about it. Here we had 14-year Eagles head coach Andy Reid coming back to Philly, and he appeared to be more ready and relaxed for the game than the actual home team. Throughout the game, especially on offense, it appeared to me as if the team - Vick in particular - was pushing and trying too hard. While Reid showed very little emotion throughout the course of the game and appeared to be right at home, perhaps the emotion and adrenaline got to the actual home team. In any case, it was nice to see the Eagles fans act with such class when Andy Reid's name was announced. Kudos to them for that.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=330919021
From the first time the Eagles touched the football, trouble was bound. After allowing a long kickoff return, the Eagles defense stood firm in forcing the Chiefs to a three-and-out to start the game. Then returnman Damaris Johnson called for a fair catch inside the 10-yard line, but forgot to actually catch the football. This led to a field goal by Kansas City. Then on Michael Vick's second pass attempt, he stared down receiver, was picked off, and that led to a touchdown (pick-six). Before the Eagles knew it, they were down 10-0. Sadly, these weren't the only two Eagles turnovers in the first half. They decided to do it two more times. Center Jason Kelce appeared as if he wanted to snap the ball to a quarterback under him (his hands, not his whole body), but unfortunately for him and the team, Vick was in the shotgun formation, and while Vick tried lunging to recover the fumble, he wasn't able to do it in time. Kelce later snapped the ball over Vick's head for his second fumble of the game. Vick was able to land on it this time. Still in the first half, while Vick was moving out of the pocket, he tried forcing a ball to Riley Cooper, was off-balance, and ended up getting intercepted as a result. The team also had a lost fumble in the final seconds of the game to finish with five on the day. Also, while the team went without a penalty in the first half, it was penalized six times for 45 yards in the second half. Like I said, the term "sloppy" really didn't do this offense any justice.
When the offense did score, it was with Oregon-like speed. Vick threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jason Avant after a quick drive. Alex Henery kicked a 29-yard field goal after a fairly quick possession. Lastly, LeSean McCoy burst through a hole for a 41-yard touchdown run to end a lightning-quick drive. Vick had his poorest outing of the season, completing only 13 of 30 pass attempts for 201 yards (6.7 per), 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 49.4. He was also sacked five times. He did run the ball very effectively - gaining 95 yards on 5 carries (19.0 per), including a career long 61-yard scamper. LeSean McCoy had another great game - running the ball 20 times for 158 yards (7.9 per), and a touchdown. Jason Avant led the way at receiver, catching 5 passes for 87 yards (17.4), and a score. DeSean Jackson finished with an underwhelming 3 catches for 62 yards (20.7 per). Riley Cooper and Brent Celek added two catches a piece. The team gained 431 yards on 63 plays (6.8 per), including 260 on the ground on 28 carries (9.3 per). So, all-in-all, the offense's overall stats were decent - well, if one doesn't look at penalties and turnovers...
The defense, while still nothing one would want to write home about, played much better than they did against San Diego. They didn't create any turnovers, which would have been a great help to the struggling offense, but they did sack Alex Smith five times, knock down five passes, hit Smith six times, and accumulate seven tackles for a loss.
The special teams was anything but special. Alex Henery missed a very makeable field goal. Damaris Johnson fumbled an early punt and wasn't able to generate much on successive returns. Punter Donnie Jones was fairly effective, in pinning the Chiefs inside the 20-yard line on two of four punts.
This loss set the Eagles back to 1-2 on the year, which is a big blow for a number of reasons - one being they'll have to travel to Denver to take on the unbeaten Broncos in a week and a half, so 1-3 could be staring them right in the face before long. The only semi-good news for them is the fact they play in the NFC East and a 9-7 or even an 8-8 team could potentially win the division this year.
The two stats that spoke volumes to me from this game were the turnovers and the time of possession. Just like in the San Diego game, Philadelphia only had the ball for around 20 minutes, while Kansas City had it for nearly 40. Chip Kelly's offense is fun, fast, and exciting, but when it isn't generating first downs consistently, that puts added pressure on a very mediocre defense. The team has the ability to score very quickly and put opposing defenses in tough spots, but when this isn't occurring, it could spell trouble for the team. That's why, like I said in my post last week, I think Kelly needs to adjust his offense some and alter tempos more. This will make it more unpredictable in the long-run and allow for his defense to get more rest. Kelly and his offense can't keep having their defense out on the field for two-thirds of games and expect to compete for a division title this year. Some adjustments will need to be made.
At this point, I think it's difficult to know where the Eagles are as a team, as I insinuated with my opening paragraph. The offense likely isn't quite as good as they showed in their first two games - at least not yet, but not nearly as bad as it looked last night. The defense likely isn't as bad as it showed against the Chargers, but not as good as they were for most of the Redskins and Chiefs games. Like I said, the team is a definite work in progress. Hopefully, with the extra time between games, wounded players will have enough time to fully heal and Chip Kelly and his staff will have enough time to make proper adjustments and properly prepare the team for their upcoming game against the Denver Broncos.
Before I wrap this up, I'd like to make one final point. While a lot of sports-writers will probably point to last night's game as a prime example of why Chip Kelly's strategy won't succeed at this level and that Michael Vick is no different in this system than he was in any other, I think last night was a special occasion. It's kind of funny in thinking about it. Here we had 14-year Eagles head coach Andy Reid coming back to Philly, and he appeared to be more ready and relaxed for the game than the actual home team. Throughout the game, especially on offense, it appeared to me as if the team - Vick in particular - was pushing and trying too hard. While Reid showed very little emotion throughout the course of the game and appeared to be right at home, perhaps the emotion and adrenaline got to the actual home team. In any case, it was nice to see the Eagles fans act with such class when Andy Reid's name was announced. Kudos to them for that.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=330919021
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