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The Philadelphia crowd started giving Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith the business as he took a seat on the Lincoln Financial Field grass. Michael Vick‘s 13-yard pass to Riley Cooper midway through the third quarter had brought the Eagles inside the red zone. Smith, in coverage on the play, began grabbing for the back of his leg once Cooper stepped out of bounds before sitting down to wait for his trainers.
“I knew it was coming ,” said Smith, via the Kansas City Star. “Everybody thought I was faking, but I had to get an IV ― I’ve got the proof right here,” he Smith said, pointing to a bandage on the inside of his arm.
“It shows how fast-paced that offense is. It’s crazy, you can’t really practice it. So when you see it for the first time, you don’t really know what to expect.”
This has become a recurring theme through the Eagles’ first three games. A player goes down with cramps, the up-tempo drive runs into a red light, and it’s impossible to know for sure whether everything is on the up-and-up.
Here’s a look at how Chip Kelly divvied up playing time against the Kansas City Chiefs, with notes on Vinny Curry, Brandon Graham, Zach Ertz and others.
The biggest boos from the crowd at Lincoln Financial Field Thursday night came when fans thought the Chiefs were trying to employ a familiar tactic to slow the Eagles’ offense down.
On separate occasions in the second half, cornerbacks Sean Smith and Brandon Flowers went down with injuries while the Eagles were driving. But in a league that’s as violent and physically taxing as the NFL, it’s pretty much impossible to separate real from fake.
“Once you stop the momentum we’re having, and when we are coming back and moving the ball, I think the [Chiefs’ defense] was getting tired,” LeSean McCoy said. “[Injuries] give them time to get their breath back. Who is to say if they were faking it or not? People get hurt during the game.”
Here’s what we saw during tonight’s Eagles-Chiefs game.
LeSean McCoy exited the game late in the second half with a right leg injury.
The injury occurred at the end of an 18-yard McCoy run to the left side. He was tackled by former Eagle Akeem Jordan and safety Kendrick Lewis and remained on the ground, in obvious pain. Trainers attended to McCoy for several minutes as players and coaches, including Andy Reid, stood nearby.
McCoy eventually got up and was able to jog off the field. As he made his way into the tunnel, chants of “Shady!” broke out in the crowd.
The official word from the team is that he is having x-rays taken on the leg and his return is uncertain.
[UPDATE: McCoy returned to action early in the third quarter.]
Here’s a look at Eagles snap counts against the Chargers, with notes on Brandon Graham, James Casey, Earl Wolff and others.
The Eagles’ offense piled up 511 yards Sunday afternoon, scoring 30 points and averaging 8.8 yards per play.
Michael Vick completed 23 of 36 passes for 428 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 11.9 yards per attempt. LeSean McCoy totaled 167 rushing/receiving yards. And DeSean Jackson had nine catches for 193 yards.
In the second half, the Eagles scored on every possession except for the final one when they got the ball with seven seconds left.
Yet, given the nature of Sunday’s three-point loss, it was clear afterwards that Chip Kelly and the offensive players felt they should have done more.
Here are first-half observations from today’s Eagles-Chargers game.
The irony was not lost on LeSean McCoy.
For the past four seasons under Andy Reid, the popular argument was that McCoy did not get the ball enough. Now one game into the Chip Kelly era, and the concern is that his workload will be too large.
“Which one is it?” he asked.
You tell us. Were the 31 carries and 32 overall touches too much? Not enough? Just right?
Zach Ertz lined up to the left of Jason Peters at the Eagles’ 46 yard line.
When the ball was snapped, he took off down the seam before turning his head around, finding the ball, making the catch and somersaulting to the ground for an 11-yard gain.
Ertz got up, found the official, tossed him the ball, looked towards the sideline for the next play and set up at the exact same spot in-line next to Peters.
Not a lot to think about for the rookie after his first career catch. The Eagles were about to run the same play twice in a row.