The Chip Wagon

#6- The Dynamics of Mobility

#6 on the ChipWagon Top 25 was a play that pretty much defined Chip Kelly's decision to make Michael Vick the starter at the beginning of the 2013 season:

At #7 we poked a little fun at the Nick Foles detractors who continue to exaggerate his complete lack of athletic ability. Clearly Nick Foles doesn't scare defenses with his foot speed when keeping on the read-option, but he has enough athletic ability to sneak a key first down or TD on the goalline. However, there is no question that Chip Kelly's offense can become more dynamic with a mobile QB. He showed that time and time again in Oregon and we saw it in September of last year when Michael Vick was at the helm.

Read more here. 

#7- Joe Flacco carrying Philip Rivers up the Stairs

Mike Tanier's post at the Sports on Earth blog comes at the perfect time for me to unveil #7 on the Chip Wagon Top 25. Here is a comment Tanier made when discussing how the Eagles rank amongst other NFL teams in running the football:

The Eagles would rank higher if Nick Foles could run. Foles does not have to be able to run like Wilson or Cam Newton. He just has to be able to run about as well as Andy Dalton. Unfortunately, Foles runs like Joe Flacco trying to carry Philip Rivers up a flight of steep stairs. This would not be a problem in other systems, but Chip Kelly needs those 32 designed carries from his quarterbacks, plus a few more. Foles averaged 3.95 yards per carry on 21 designed keepers, which is not terrible, but it sometimes looked like 39.5 yards were available before the lumbering commenced.

Funny stuff. I do realize that Mike is exaggerating to make a point, but I must admit it still bothers me that we still need to obsess over how much the potential of Chip's offense is limited without a running QB. We heard that all last offseason as the reason why Foles wasn't a fit in Chip's offense, and after a Pro Bowl year, we are still hearing it in some circles. (Note, I am not calling out Mike here. I think Mike understands the dynamics of Chip's offense as well as anyone, based on his excellent piece in the 2013 Eagles Almanac). 

I've discussed this many times before on the blog but for me, one of the main qualities Nick Foles has is "functional mobility". He's not a statue like Drew Bledsoe. Dan Marino was very slow, but he had "functional mobility" because he could work the pocket as well as anyone. Guys like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Peyton Manning are the same. I am certainly not arguing that Foles has the pocket presence that those HOFers do. It's actually one of the things he really needs to work on. However, with Foles the question should be whether he possesses the minimual athletic requirement to keep Chip's offense dynamic. My answer would be yes, provided he continues to do all the other things as well as he did in 2013. 

A couple of examples. If Nick Foles really was the statue that many in the media describe him, why would Chip even consider calling the inside zone read-option in key areas when the is even a remote chance that Nick has to pull and run?

#8- The Emory and Henry Formation

#8 gets credit as one of the more bizarre plays of the year. Chip Kelly didn't wait long into his NFL tenure to work a little trickery into his game-planning. In opening week on Monday Night Football against the Washington Redskins amidst a blistering pace on offense Chip Kelly rolled out one of the most bizarre formations you will see in Pro Football:

This formation is called the Emory and Henry formation, and here is some interesting history behind it from Wikipedia:

The Emory & Henry Wasps are credited with inventing an American football offensive formation, named in the college's honor, that divides the offensive line and wide receivers into three groupings of three.^[14] While it is primarily used today as a trick play, it was revived in 2007 as an integral part of theA-11 offense, a high school football offensive scheme that was eventually banned due to the exploitation of loopholes in the high school rulebooks. The offense inspired Steve Spurrier to use variations of it as a trickplay formation at Florida and South Carolina named "Emory and Henry", as Spurrier attended Wasps games as a child growing up in nearby Johnson City, Tennessee.^[15] 

As you can see from the image above, this is the formation the Eagles lined up in that divided the formation up front in 3 groups of 3. 

Here's how the play transpired:

#9- Fading Away

As we break into the top 10 of the Top 25 I wanted to highlight one of favorite Nick Foles throws of last year. Perhaps this one doesn't deserve a #9 ranking considering some of the other plays we've highlighted in this series, but I thought it was only appopriate to highlight the flawless execution of a fade route, a play that was largely absent from the red zone playbook during the Andy Reid era. In fairness to Andy, Donovan McNabb nor Michael Vick ever demonstrated the consistent accuracy and anticipation to make this throw and include it as a staple in the playbook:

#10- The Packaged Triple Read Option

One of the major things to watch in 2014 in the continuing evolution of the Chip Kelly offense is the evolution of the packaged plays. We've discussed them extensively on the blog and they have been a regular feature on other sites when talking about Chip Kelly's offense. To open the Top 10 we are going to focus on a series of packaged plays which feature a minimum of 3 reads in the same play. As you will see, in these plays there is both a run and "pass" option built-in. The offensive line will block as though it is always an inside zone running play, but there are built in "pass" options. Let's start with this goalline touchdown against the Redskins:

Of course this ends up being an actual running play. However, based on the reaction of certain defenders on the play, Foles has other options.