Written by Bryan Gibberman at Bloguin
The Philadelphia Eagles are off to a disappointing 1-3 start in a season when expectations were high. I even picked them to win the Super Bowl (whoops).
Chip Kelly, the head coach and face of the franchise, has come under fire. Kelly’s vaunted offense is ranked 27th in offensive DVOA by Football Outsiders metric — the pass offense is 22nd and the running offense his gameplans are based around comes in at 30th. For a variety of reasons Kelly hasn’t been able to get the group to function at an even average level.
While the high profile signings of running backs DeMarco Murray and Ryan Matthews are catching heat, it was Kelly’s decision to release last season’s two starting guards that are hurting him most. Philadelphia didn’t properly replace Evan Mathis and Todd Herrmans either through the draft or free agency. After four games the Eagles are averaging 3.1 yards per carry, second lowest in the NFL ahead of only the Detroit Lions.
For most of the first quarter of the season Sam Bradford, another Kelly acquisition, has looked like the quarterback he was with the St. Louis Rams. During Kelly’s first two seasons he was able to bump up the play of Mark Sanchez and Nick Foles, but that hasn’t happened with Bradford to this point.
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