Chip Kelly and his Philadelphia Eagles were quickly booted from their six-day high after losing their home opener to the San Diego Chargers today by the final score of 33-30. Chargers kicker Nick Novak kicked the game-winning field goal with under ten seconds left on the clock to put his team up for good.
While all the talk has been on the Eagles new up-tempo offense, this game was more about their defense than offense. The offense was very effective when they had the ball, but those occasions seemed to be few and far between. Philadelphia only ran 58 plays on offense compared to 79 for San Diego. The Eagles held the ball for only 19 minutes 43 seconds while the Chargers held onto it for 40 minutes 17 seconds. Like I said, the Eagles offense was great, but the defense was anything but.
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick threw for a career best 428 yards, as he completed 23 of 36 pass attempts and also threw for a pair of touchdowns (11.9 per attempt and 18.6 per completion). In addition, he ran for 23 yards and a score. LeSean McCoy and the running game didn't get utilized a great deal - largely due to the fact the Eagles were down most of the game. McCoy ran for 53 yards on just 11 carries (4.8 per). He did catch 5 balls out of the backfield for 114 additional yards (22.8 per). Wideout DeSean Jackson lit up the Charger secondary, catching 9 passes for 193 yards (21.4 per) and a touchdown. For the second consecutive week, the Eagles offense was explosive - gaining a total of 511 yards on just 58 plays from scrimmage (8.8 per). Unfortunately, it wasn't enough in the end.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles resembled last year's squad, as they didn't pressure San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers much and got shredded on third down. The Chargers converted 33 first downs in the game, gained 539 yards on 79 plays (6.8 per), held onto the ball for over 40 minutes, and converted 10 of 15 third downs. The Eagles defense just couldn't get off the field. Rivers completed 36 of 47 pass attempts for 419 yards and three touchdowns (8.9 per attempt and 11.6 per completion). The Chargers running game wasn't great, but they still ran for 126 yards to aid Rivers some in the passing game. Antonio Gates and Michael Floyd both gained over 100 receiving yards, and Eddie Royal was just ten yards away from crossing that mark. This is how inept the Eagles defense was in the game. Philly's defense only accounted for 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 4 pass deflections, and 1 quarterback hit. For as great as the offense was, the defense was just that bad.
Up next on the slate for the 1-1 Eagles are the 2-0 Kansas City Chiefs this coming Thursday night in Philadelphia. The Chiefs blew out the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars 28-2 in their first game and got past Dallas 17-16 earlier today. It will be a homecoming game for new Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who was fired by the Eagles after last year's disappointing 4-12 campaign. If the Eagles win the game, they'll move to 2-1 and at worst, be tied for first in the NFC East. Both Washington and the New York Giants fell to 0-2 after losses today, and Dallas, like Philadelphia, fell to 1-1.
For as fun and exciting as Chip Kelly has made this Philadelphia Eagles offense, I think he needs to balance the tempos better throughout the course of a game. No matter how explosive an offense is, the defense is going to be in serious trouble if they're on the field for 40 minutes of a game. The offense needs to learn how to be effective when slowing things down a notch. Philly was down 30-27 fairly late in the game, when Vick and the Eagles started driving again. There were over two minutes left on the clock and the Eagles were acting like there was less than a minute left. After they kicked the game-tying field goal, it gave the Chargers far too much time to work with to kick the game-winner. It'll be a learning process for Kelly and his staff, but some adjustments will definitely need to be made when it comes to the offense's tempo depending on the game situation. We'll have to wait and see what kinds of such adjustments will be made on both sides of the ball for the Eagles' Thursday night game against the suddenly decent Kansas City Chiefs. The Eagles will definitely want to win that one since they have to go to Denver in Week 4. If the Eagles thought their secondary looked bad against Philip Rivers and the Chargers today, they'll be in for quite a shock against Peyton Manning and the Broncos if they don't improve in the next couple of weeks.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=330915021
While all the talk has been on the Eagles new up-tempo offense, this game was more about their defense than offense. The offense was very effective when they had the ball, but those occasions seemed to be few and far between. Philadelphia only ran 58 plays on offense compared to 79 for San Diego. The Eagles held the ball for only 19 minutes 43 seconds while the Chargers held onto it for 40 minutes 17 seconds. Like I said, the Eagles offense was great, but the defense was anything but.
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick threw for a career best 428 yards, as he completed 23 of 36 pass attempts and also threw for a pair of touchdowns (11.9 per attempt and 18.6 per completion). In addition, he ran for 23 yards and a score. LeSean McCoy and the running game didn't get utilized a great deal - largely due to the fact the Eagles were down most of the game. McCoy ran for 53 yards on just 11 carries (4.8 per). He did catch 5 balls out of the backfield for 114 additional yards (22.8 per). Wideout DeSean Jackson lit up the Charger secondary, catching 9 passes for 193 yards (21.4 per) and a touchdown. For the second consecutive week, the Eagles offense was explosive - gaining a total of 511 yards on just 58 plays from scrimmage (8.8 per). Unfortunately, it wasn't enough in the end.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles resembled last year's squad, as they didn't pressure San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers much and got shredded on third down. The Chargers converted 33 first downs in the game, gained 539 yards on 79 plays (6.8 per), held onto the ball for over 40 minutes, and converted 10 of 15 third downs. The Eagles defense just couldn't get off the field. Rivers completed 36 of 47 pass attempts for 419 yards and three touchdowns (8.9 per attempt and 11.6 per completion). The Chargers running game wasn't great, but they still ran for 126 yards to aid Rivers some in the passing game. Antonio Gates and Michael Floyd both gained over 100 receiving yards, and Eddie Royal was just ten yards away from crossing that mark. This is how inept the Eagles defense was in the game. Philly's defense only accounted for 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 4 pass deflections, and 1 quarterback hit. For as great as the offense was, the defense was just that bad.
Up next on the slate for the 1-1 Eagles are the 2-0 Kansas City Chiefs this coming Thursday night in Philadelphia. The Chiefs blew out the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars 28-2 in their first game and got past Dallas 17-16 earlier today. It will be a homecoming game for new Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who was fired by the Eagles after last year's disappointing 4-12 campaign. If the Eagles win the game, they'll move to 2-1 and at worst, be tied for first in the NFC East. Both Washington and the New York Giants fell to 0-2 after losses today, and Dallas, like Philadelphia, fell to 1-1.
For as fun and exciting as Chip Kelly has made this Philadelphia Eagles offense, I think he needs to balance the tempos better throughout the course of a game. No matter how explosive an offense is, the defense is going to be in serious trouble if they're on the field for 40 minutes of a game. The offense needs to learn how to be effective when slowing things down a notch. Philly was down 30-27 fairly late in the game, when Vick and the Eagles started driving again. There were over two minutes left on the clock and the Eagles were acting like there was less than a minute left. After they kicked the game-tying field goal, it gave the Chargers far too much time to work with to kick the game-winner. It'll be a learning process for Kelly and his staff, but some adjustments will definitely need to be made when it comes to the offense's tempo depending on the game situation. We'll have to wait and see what kinds of such adjustments will be made on both sides of the ball for the Eagles' Thursday night game against the suddenly decent Kansas City Chiefs. The Eagles will definitely want to win that one since they have to go to Denver in Week 4. If the Eagles thought their secondary looked bad against Philip Rivers and the Chargers today, they'll be in for quite a shock against Peyton Manning and the Broncos if they don't improve in the next couple of weeks.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=330915021
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