Chip Kelly won 20 games during his first two seasons as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, including an unlikely NFC East division title in 2013. He coaxed an all-time season out of quarterback Nick Foles in 2013, and engineered yet another top-five scoring offense in 2014, despite subpar play from a number of key players on the offensive side of the ball.
Yet his coaching record might as well be 0-2, because that’s his record since he demanded full control of all personnel decisions shortly after the conclusion of the 2014 season. And right now, that’s the only thing that matters to a fan base that is quickly growing frustrated with yet another preseason high and regular season disappointment.
In what will go down as one of the most anemic offensive performances in the history of the franchise, the Eagles were throttled at home Sunday afternoon by the defending NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles scored three offensive points in the game’s first 59 minutes. At one point midway through the fourth quarter, they had -18 rushing yards, a total that wouldn’t have seemed possible had you done a simulation of Madden beginner mode.
The Eagles lost 20-10, scoring a meaningless late touchdown to make the score appear closer than it really was. In reality, the Eagles were completely overmatched by a Cowboys team that played without All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant and later lost Pro Bowl quarterback Tony Rom to a broken clavicle.
After an 0-2 start, it’s impossible to know where to go with the Eagles at this point. What does Chip Kelly say to his players this week after perhaps the most humiliating regular season defeat the Eagles have suffered in 15 years?
It’s impossible to ignore the fact that this slow start all comes back to owner Jeffrey Lurie’s decision to give Kelly full control of the team. While it’s too early to know whether that was the right or wrong decision, it’s safe to say every one of Kelly’s offseason decisions deserves to be seriously questioned right now.
Trading Nick Foles and draft picks for Sam Bradford, the former number one overall pick who hadn’t played in two seasons and hadn’t been particularly effective when he did play. Trading LeSean McCoy for Kiko Alonso, a very talented but very injury-prone linebacker who’s currently awaiting MRI results to see if he tore his ACL for the third time. Spending 63 million on a good but not great cornerback when there were less-talented but much-cheaper options available. Releasing All-Pro guard Evan Mathis and not adding a single offensive lineman in the draft for the second straight season. Signing workhorse rushing champion DeMarco Murray for $42 million.
None of those moves look like they’re working out right now. Literally none of them.
This is Kelly’s team and he’s going to sink or swim as a head coach based on the controversial decisions he made this offseason. Only time will tell if Kelly made too many extreme moves in too short of a time period.
But the early results are in on Kelly’s wild offseason – and the results aren’t positive.
