The Chip Wagon

Where Did it All Go Wrong? The Rise and Fall of Chip Kelly

I apologize for what was a very quiet 2015 NFL season at the Chipwagon this past year. There are a couple reasons for that. 1) I started a new job in September and it has been pretty demanding of my time and balancing that with the family life didn't leave a lot of time left to put blog posts together. 2) Watching the 2015 season was one of the worst and most frustrating seasons I can recall watching. I realize that this was far from one of the worst seasons in Eagles history, but from beginning to end it was just so frustrating and aggravating to watch. We had lapses in execution all season long and Chip's offense that I loved so much in 2013 and 2014 just went completely stale.  The truth is, there is no one reason why things didn't work out in Philadelphia. Certainly, Chip the GM, Chip's personality, the power struggle with Howie Roseman and his apparent fractured relationship with Jeff Lurie will lead the way in the headlines. Our old friend @sheilkapadia was spot on this assessment which really nicely summarized the downfall of the Kelly regime. However, to look at it from another angle, one really needs to understand that Lurie's decision was not exclusively a non-footbal decision. To put it bluntly, the Chip Kelly we fell in love with just stopped showing up on the chalkboard in 2015. The offense we saw in 2015 was a stripped down version of what we saw in 2013 and 2014 and lacked any imagination, creativity or evolution as defenses around the league continued to adjust and catch up. Furthermore, it seemed in 3 years Chip Kelly's offense lacked some of the fundamental concepts and philosophies that need to be considered and applied in the pro game. Here is my post-mortem and likely final chapter on Chip Kelly's offense.

What Do We Gain with Mark Sanchez?

For the second straight year, the Philadelphia Eagles playoff hopes rest on the shoulders of Mark Sanchez. While it is unclear how many games Sam Bradford is going to miss, at 4-5, the Eagles have left themselves with such a low margin for error that the game this weekend against Tampa Bay has to be considered a must-win. With Sam Bradford at the helm, the Eagles offense has been inconsistent and uneven all season long. However, while Bradford was showing some improvement, he just wasn't get the job done. As much as I've seen my fill of Sanchez as the Eagles starting QB I must admit, this offense desperately needs a spark from somewhere. Can it be from Mark Sanchez? Based on the predictable back-breaking INT he threw vs. the Dolphins last weekend in relief duty it doesn't look likely. During much of the offseason, it seems the basement most people set for Bradford, "if healthy" was that he could be Mark Sanchez without the turnovers. Whoops. In 9 starts this season Sam Bradford has 10 INTs and 6 fumbles. In 8 starts last year, Sanchez had 11 INTs and 7 fumbles. I could sit here and right a post about how Mark Sanchez is a poor decision maker and a turnover machine but everyone knows it and everyone has covered that.

Bradford's performance this season begged the very good question from Jimmy Kempski, "What Does Sam Bradford Do Well?" Truth is, while Bradford has had some bright spots this year, there's absolutely nothing that you can hang your hat on that he has done consistently well. We thought we were getting an excellent decision maker. We haven't seen it. We thought we were getting an accurate passer. We haven't seen it. We thought we were getting a guy who would thrive in the fast pace no-huddle offense. Haven't seen that either.  

The one immediately noticeable thing we all saw when Sanchez took over was a dramatic difference in the pace that this offense moved. It appeared Bradford was running this offense at a snails pace compared to everyone else who has run this offense. Pace and tempo is one of the competitive advantages of Chip's Kelly's offense. Bradford hasn't been able to run it that way for whatever reason. 

But unfortunately, tempo alone doesn't win football games. If you are looking for perhaps a glimmer of hope on what Sanchez might offer that could jump start this offense, I might have something for you. 

One Step Forward?: Gameplan vs. Execution in the Passing Game

In my last post, I talked about the Eagles improvements in the running game vs. the Saints being a mix of better execution from the personnel and better game-planning from the coaches. I think its fair to say that the same can be said for the passing game last Sunday. First and foremost, I thought Chip did a good job deciding to attack with the passing game from the start and even his decision to go for it on 4th down on the opening drive (more on that in a bit) was a good one to try and extend the rhythm they have had such a hard time establishing in the first several games. That said, I think it's important to note that the Saints do not have a good defense and were beat up in the secondary. It played a major role in making the Eagles offense looking good. 

Execution and the 3-Headed Monster

Sorry for the lack of posting the last 2 weeks. Hectic few weeks at work that kept me from posting anything. After 4 very tough weeks where the Eagles struggled to find a rhythm and get the running game going Sunday against the Saints was a breath of fresh air. Even though the Eagles appeared to run the ball better against the Jets and Redskins, I thought those games were a bit of a false positive for the offensive line. In those games, the Eagles running backs, especially Sproles and Mathews, made defenders miss in the backfield. The Saints game was a different story. People were getting sick of the word "execution" but it really was the difference on Sunday along with some familiar wrinkles from Chip Kelly who I felt brought his best gameplan of the year. Let's dive in. 

The Eagles Ground Game: From Hot Mess to Work in Progress

Needless to say, the Eagles really needed to get the ground game working if we were to expect to see any improvements on the offensive side of the ball. Fortunately, we saw that on Sunday against a tough New York Jets front. Fran Duffy over at Philadelphiaeagles.com did a great job outlining how the Eagles game-planned against that Jets defensive front with a heavy dose of outside running to avoid the interior of the Jets DL. Certainly, after reviewing the All-22 we saw some major improvements in the execution of the run game, but Chip also did an excellent job of moving away from the inside zone and sweep play and introduced a bit more diversity in the run game. In this post, we'll talk a little bit about how Chip mixed up formations and used a heavy dose of outside zone to attack the Jets with some decent success. That said, the Eagles only averaged 3.2 yards per carry on Sunday, and even against a strong Jets front, that is a number that needs to improve moving forward. As you'll see in this post, this group is still a work in progress who now faces another challenge in dealing with Andrew Gardner's season-ending injury.