Who says you can’t go home? Andy Reid returns to Philadelphia to meet Chip Kelly’s offense… and benefit from a complete lack of defense. The Eagles are in trouble. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Chiefs at Eagles
We learned two important things about the Eagles in Week 2: 1. Chip Kelly’s offense is the real deal. 2. That 2nd half in D.C. was no fluke; the Eagles defense is truly horrible. I think the significance of the defense’s play is being somewhat ignored. THIS IS A BIG DEAL. A BIG FREAKIN DEAL.
Chip Kelly’s offense already puts a ton of pressure on the defense. More often than not, the defense will be on the short (or long? I can’t decide) end of the possession battle. Against San Diego, the defense was on the field for 40 minutes compared to 20 for the offense. Oh, the Eagles offense scored 30 points. Typically, a drastic possession differential is due to lousy offense. This isn’t the case with the Eagles. Just imagine what the time of possession would look like if Kelly’s offense had an off day? (Just thought about it…Yeeesh.)
As the Chargers proved, opponents will make long drives a priority against the Eagles in order to limit the offense’s opportunities. Even when the Eagles offense has chances, it won’t allow the defense significant time to rest. The longest drive of the day for the Eagles was three minutes, 41 seconds. San Diego had SIX drives longer than that.
The Eagles are designed to attack and score quick, thus asking the defense to put in extra hours. Conversely, opponents are slowing their offense to keep the Eagle offense off the field. It’s a double whammy. Something must change or the Eagles may not win six games. Will Chip Kelly adjust his offensive approach? Yeah, right. Will the defense drastically improve? Ha, funny. Ok, maybe a little? Doubtful. This is bad news for the rest of the season. Most teams prefer to hide or at least limit their weaknesses. The Eagles are designed to exploit theirs.
Oh yes, Andy Reid comes to town tonight. I’m excited. I always liked Reid. Though it was time for him to go, I never actually wanted him to leave. I imagine I’ll feel the same when it’s time for my son to go to college. Reid is an excellent coach. The Chiefs appear to love him. Throughout his career you could almost always count on Reid’s team to play well in big games. Even in those early years, Reid’s undermanned Eagles gave the NFL’s elite fits. It’ll be fun to have him back in my life, if only for an evening.
I hated almost everything I saw from the Eagles last week. If the NFC East weren’t so putrid, I’d call the season already. CHIEFS If I were Charles Barkley; Chiefs -5