The Chip Wagon

Accuracy and Execution in the Red Zone

Last week I did a deep dive into the issues the Eagles were having in the red zone through the first 7 weeks of the season. I mention in that post that Chip seemed to be doing a good job of scheming player into one on one opportunities but the players simply weren't executing. Whether it was poor throw from Foles, a drop from a WR, blocking up front, etc. The Eagles had 3 red zone opportunities yesterday and they scored TDs on all 3 (note, we had one possession just on the outskirts of the 20 and Sanchez got sacked on 3rd down). How did they do it? There's no magic, razzle dazzle, or innovative scheme changes here. Just excellent execution highlight by Mark Sanchez's accuracy and good execution from the OL up front. 

Fixing the Red Zone Issues

I came across 3 stats yesterday that reflected clearly what all are thinking but I have to admit they made my head spin:

The Eagles are turning the ball over on 19.3% of their offensive possessions which is 32nd in the NFL

The Eagles also rank 32nd in the league in red zone efficiency

Nick Foles is completing only 46% of his passes with 5 TDs, 2 INTs and a QBR of 67.1 in the red zone

How again is this team 5-2? When it comes to the Eagles, I am generally an optimist by nature. I believe Nick Foles will get better and I think with some healthy pieces coming back especially along the offensive line this team will start finally getting it together and really hit their stride. But what if they don't? This team is built to move the football and score points. I am not sure we can continue to depend on timely defensive scores and impact STs play. In other words, the key to this 2014 team in my opinion is getting the offense back on track. With regards to the turnovers and Nick Foles, Chip Kelly has stated that his turnovers aren't the result of one or two things. If they were, perhaps they could be fixed, or at least we could determine if they are fixable in the longer term. In the end, there is very little to say about that, Nick simply has to be better. However, on the red zone front this is a discussion we can dive a bit deeper into and will be the subject of this post today. Most importantly, what is wrong with the red zone offense? Is it scheme, execution, or personnel? The reality as always is that it is a combination of all 3, but I wanted to take a deep dive and try and understand those issues a little more and identify whether there is hope for fixing it in 2014. 

Extra! Extra! 'READ' All About It: Packaged Plays

Re-visiting a regular feature from last year, EXTRA! EXTRA! 'READ' All About It is a feature where we focus on various aspects of the read-option that are used from week to week by the Eagles. Much has been made about Chip's use of the read-option before coming to Philadelphia and it was an important component of his 2013 offensive attack. 

Last season we wrote a lot about packaged plays and how Chip liked to combine run and pass plays which often included a read-option component. When the offense finally got on the field against the Rams in their first drive, they ran packaged play after packaged play. 

When All Else Fails

With Jon Gruden harping all night about the Eagles red zone issues Chip Kelly went back to one of their staple red zone play concepts that delivered when they needed it most:

Of course we are talking about using mesh concepts and it appears that NFL defenses are really struggling recognizing it based on the many ways Chip disguises it.

#25-Bubble Screens and Welcome Back Mac!

Starting off the offseason series, I should mention that when I say top 25 "plays" what I might mean is a collection of plays. Sometimes I will focus on one single play, other times, I will focus on a collection of plays that were a key component of the 2013 Chip Kelly offense. Today, we will talk about the bubble screen and towards the end of the post we will show how newly signed Jeremy Maclin might just be the ideal missing piece from the 2013 offense with this play in mind.