Eagles Wake-Up Call: The Downside Of Change

Chip Kelly, defender against the narrative, pushed back on the idea that significant changes in personnel have negatively impacted the offense’s performance.

“No,” he said when asked if plugging so many new players into key spots is having any effect on the offense. “I think there are individual mistakes being made and we need to correct them as coaches.”

He had a similar take during a conference call with Tampa media, stating that the perception that his offense has gone through big changes from last season is “overblown.” 

(h/t Jimmy Kempski)

He claims they only made four changes on offense, which really isn’t true. The Eagles came into the year with five new starters on that side of the ball (Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Allen Barbre, Andrew Gardner, Nelson Agholor) and introduced a couple other regulars (Ryan Mathews, Miles Austin) into the mix.

Kelly went down a similar path with reporters this offseason when noting that Andy Reid‘s roster had undergone the same number of changes as his squad since he took over in Kansas City. In both cases, however, Kelly did not acknowledge the importance of where those changes occurred on his team, including quarterback, running back and wide receiver.

There’s really no debate: the overhaul has affected continuity (and therefor production), everyone knows it, and Kelly has even acknowledged as much when he’s not busy arguing the other side.

As much focus as there has been on the skill position players, the offensive line might be the unit most affected by the changes. Boiling it down even further, Jason Kelce appears to be the player most negatively impacted by Kelly’s offseason decisions.

Kelce did not want to use his relative inexperience working alongside Allen Barbre and Matt Tobin as an excuse, but Lane Johnson was not afraid to spell out what seems obvious to many.

“He may not want to admit it, but I think it’s one of the biggest differences is having different guards in there. It’s hard to change your playing style up whenever you’ve been with those guys for three or four years, and just all of a sudden in one season get it all right,” said Johnson.

“He’s used to playing at a high level, but I think just having different guards and different guys in there is different. You can practice all you want, but it’s a lot different when you get in there in a game and he’s so used to playing next to Todd [Herremans], next to Evan [Mathis], playing next to them and kind of getting in rhythm with them. That’s probably the biggest difference I would say for him.”

Kelce believes that he’s more mobile and in better shape than he has been at any other time in his career, and yet the problems remain. The 28-year-old, as he did earlier in the season, blamed overthinking as one of the main reasons he is not playing up to his standards. There seems to be one fairly obvious reason for that.

“It is different when you have two different guards,” said Johnson. “Kelce is really good at getting guys cut off, circle-reaching guys and getting away fast. Sometimes his athleticism gets the best of him because sometimes he’ll overdo things and I think it’s just been how he’s been accustomed to doing it the previous two years, and it’s just been different with different people in there.”

WHAT YOU MISSED

“I understand it’s a competitive world.” Jon Dorenbos knows he needs to be better to keep his job.

Sam Bradford reportedly separated his shoulder, and more injury news from Wednesday.

Jameis Winston grew up with “Fly Eagles Fly.” On his Birds fandom, and his relationship with DeMeco Ryans.

“Kirk Cousins played perhaps the best game of his career.” Checking out a busy NFC East.

An All-22 look at the Birds’ offensive line inconsistencies, with an honest Jason Kelce.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Kelly unloaded some under-appreciated pieces this past offseason and his special teams unit is worse for it, writes the Daily News’s Sam Donnellon.

Here are some names often overlooked, names that might have as much, or even more, to do with why the Eagles have lost three games this season by a total of six points.

James Casey. Chris Polk. Casey Matthews. Brandon Boykin.

Each was a valuable contributor to a special-teams unit that was extremely special last season. Each made considerable contributions as the Eagles built a 7-2 record that included close victories over the Colts (30-27), the Redskins (37-34) and the Rams (34-28). Aside from Boykin at nickel back, each played sparingly elsewhere, allowing them to focus almost entirely on their special-teams responsibilities, allowing them to contribute huge plays at opportune times that were a big reason – perhaps the biggest in retrospect – why the Eagles were in a much better situation at this point last season than they are this year.

The Eagles, like 10 other teams, are 4-5 through Week 10. They’ve looked mediocre at best, Tommy Lawlor writes, and they just might be an average team.

Football Outsiders has their newest DVOA rankings out. They have SEA, KC and PHI at the top of their 4-5 teams, with the Eagles being 11th in the league. Right now my eyes tell me the Eagles are a middle of the pack team. I can’t get mad when I see a power rankings listing them at 15 or lower. Right now this is a mediocre team.

The next few weeks will give us some interesting perspective on the 4-5 teams. Some will get hot. Others cold. Most will be up and down.

I have complete faith that the Eagles will at least be good enough to string me along another month.

COMING UP

Kelly will address the media at 11:45.