What They’re Saying About The Eagles


Photo by: Jeff Fusco.

Photo by: Jeff Fusco.

Through ten weeks, the Eagles are 4-5 and in third place in one of the worst divisions in the NFL. What’s being written about Chip Kelly‘s team after its latest defeat? We compiled opinions and viewpoints from around the internet to get an idea.

If the Eagles don’t make the playoffs this year, will Chip Kelly be around for Year 4? CBS Philly’s Joseph Santoliquito wonders aloud.

There are some irreversible facts: In the third year of Kelly’s program, the Eagles were supposed to be better than this. They’re going backwards and it appears the bug-eyed, deer-in-the-headlines look is becoming contagious on this team, which carries a collective uneven demeanor. The Eagles repeatedly make the same mistakes, and that can’t be more pronounced than it was in the Miami loss. Kelly rarely assumes any responsibility for this. He’s a firm believer that his system can succeed anywhere, with anyone running it.

Little details, responsibilities that fall unto the coach to drill into their players, get lost during the course of a game. The Eagles suffer from mass meltdowns. In the third year, that shouldn’t happen. Blocked punts shouldn’t happen (in consecutive weeks). The holding calls should be eliminated. They should be better on third downs. They’re not. The Eagles started on Sunday going 4-for-4 on third downs in the first quarter and were 3 for 14 the rest of the game (7-for-18). They blew their largest first-quarter lead at home in seven years and Sunday’s loss was the third time they squandered a fourth-quarter lead.

Buzz Bissinger took Santoliquito’s sentiments a step further, saying Kelly needs to make the playoffs to stay in town, writes Philly.com’s Rob Tornoe.

“If they make the playoffs, that means Kelly will stay another year,” Bissinger said Wednesday morning, noting that it would give owner Jeffrey Lurie a reason to keep his embattled coach. “If they don’t make the playoffs, this guy is gone.”

Bissinger thinks Kelly’s lack of NFL experience has led to a situation in which he doesn’t know how to deal with his players.

“You’re dealing with men. He doesn’t know how to deal with any of them,” Bissinger said. “They always seem flat, and it’s reflective of Kelly’s temperate.”

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell asks which playoff contenders should be worrying after a busy Week 10. He writes that the Eagles shouldn’t be afraid of Mark Sanchez.

There’s little reason to think that Sanchez’s presence as an injury replacement should make the Eagles any worse. If anything, he might actually improve things a tiny bit given how Philly is getting squeezed on offense.

Teams aren’t afraid of [Sam] Bradford beating them downfield and are crowding the line of scrimmage to take away the running game. Sanchez isn’t as accurate as Bradford, and his arm isn’t as strong, but he typically gets more out of his arm throwing downfield in game situations than Bradford does.

Sanchez posted the league’s seventh-best QBR (96.1) on what the NFL defines as “deep” throws (16-plus yards in the air) last season as a backup. Bradford is 25th among qualifying passers, with a QBR of 69.2 on the same passes this season.

Chip Kelly is the only person Chip Kelly can blame for his offense’s bumbling, ineffective season, writes Deadspin’s Barry Petchesky.

“Four changes” is significantly underselling the overhaul. No position is more important than quarterback, and Bradford has been mediocre even before these injuries that remind you he came with a reputation as fragile. There are two new running backs, who haven’t impressed even as Kelly figures out how to use them. Two additions to the wide receiver corps, Nelson Agholor and Miles Austin, have both been busts. And Kelly’s most discussed offseason moves—replacing both starting guards from last year—have proven as damaging to the line as cynics predicted.

Despite Kelly’s protestations, those are sweeping changes, and they’re all his. Maybe the Eagles will figure things out—at 4-5, they’re just a half-game back in a weak division. If not, it all comes back to Kelly. When you’re picking the players and calling the plays, there aren’t many excuses left.

Sports Illustrated’s Pat Fitzmaurice lists Sanchez as one of his most intriguing fantasy players heading into Week 11.

Let’s have a serious discussion about Sanchez, who’ll make his first start of the season Sunday in place of the injured Sam Bradford.

Sanchez averaged 277.3 passing yards over his eight starts for the Eagles last season, with 12 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. He produced 19 or more fantasy points in four of those games. Jordan Matthews owners—a disgruntled group these days—should note that all three of Matthew’s 100-yard games last season and six of his eight touchdown catches came with Sanchez at quarterback.

Sanchez has a favorable matchup this week against a Buccaneers defense that has allowed 19 touchdown passes and has a dreadful opponent passer rating of 102.5.

Over at MMQB.com, Jenny Vrentas wrote an insightful story on the art of getting sleep in the NFL, including this tidbit about Connor Barwin and the Eagles.

Tracking sleep can be a tricky issue for teams. Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin wore a wearable sleep tracker during Chip Kelly’s first season in Philadelphia, but he didn’t find that part of the coach’s sports-science initiative to be very accurate—or necessary.

“It was optional if you wanted to do it, but that, I think, was a little intrusive for guys,” Barwin says. Now the Eagles ask players to self-report their sleep instead.

The Birds fell to No. 19 in ESPN’s weekly power rankings after losing to the Dolphins, 20-19, on Sunday.

If Sam Bradford is out, the Eagles likely won’t see a dip in quarterback play. Mark Sanchez went 4-4 with a 59.3 Total QBR with the Eagles last season.