What They’re Saying About the Eagles

A roundup of what the national media are saying about the Eagles after their 26-16 loss to the Chiefs.

Bill Barnwell of Grantland credits the Chiefs’ defense for slowing down the Birds:

As it turns out, slowing down the most-hyped offense in the NFL is actually pretty easy. Just take the two best defensive players in football through two and a half weeks, let them wreak havoc, and never give that offense the ball back. This football stuff is easy! The Chiefs didn’t reveal a blueprint for stopping Michael Vick and beating the Eagles 26-16 last night, because other teams can’t replicate what the Chiefs can do defensively. And the Chiefs are a scary team that nobody is going to want to play all season for that same reason.

SI.com’s Don Banks says Chip Kelly’s Eagles looked a lot like Andy Reid’s Eagles on Thursday night:

The Eagles made Reid available for hiring in Kansas City because there were far too many games like this the past two seasons in Philadelphia, when the sacks and turnovers came in bunches (five of each), the defense and special teams let down at the worst possible time, and once-invincible home-field edge disappeared. But you can’t blame Reid anymore for what ails the Eagles, who are suddenly under .500 and staring at a season-high three-game road swing through Denver, the Giants and Tampa Bay.

For a season that opened with such a sense of promise and excitement, things are going south in a hurry in Philadelphia, and Kelly doesn’t have all the answers after all. His Big Green Machine has sprung a major leak.

Reid outcoached Kelly, writes ESPN.com’s Ashley Fox:

Reid came to Philadelphia and he outcoached his successor, who would be wise to study the way Reid comports himself and realize that he’s not in Oregon anymore. Chip Kelly’s offense has worked for all of two of 12 quarters. It is one thing to think outside the box and yet another to kill your team’s momentum by going for an unnecessary two-point conversion when trailing 10-6 in the first quarter. There are things Kelly must learn, like rules on substitutions and how to manage the clock.

Albert Breer of NFL.com takes a look at the sustainability of Kelly’s system:

The truth is that most people I’ve talked to in the league believe what Kelly’s doing can work conceptually at the NFL level. Whether it holds up over the long haul or not, NFL folks think, will come down to two factors: the quarterback’s health and, on the larger scale, the ability to execute this style of play with a 46-man game day roster, rather than one with 85 players on scholarship and over 100 dressing.

Will Brinson of CBSSports.com gives the Eagles a ‘D’ for their performance vs. Kansas City:

I’m not calling into question Kelly’s approach at all. I believe it will work in the NFL. But the expectations we placed on the Eagles for this season after Week 1’s domination of a terrible Redskins defense may have twisted the way we look at Philadelphia.

Two weeks into struggles on offense after those expectations we should pause and remember that sometimes the NFL doesn’t play out exactly as Week 1 would have you believe.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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