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“I think Chip Kelly is going to have as much influence on the game and the way it’s played now as anyone. If for no other reason, just the pace of the game and the number of plays.
— Hall of Fame coach John Madden
When Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie talked about Chip Kelly being on the “cutting edge of football today,” you wonder how much he was referring to tempo.
Here are 10 things to know about how the Eagles’ offense matches up with the Redskins’ defense. If you missed the first cheat sheet, click here.
When the fire comes, chances are it’s going to be coming off the right edge. Not just because that’s Michael Vick‘s blindside, but also because of who is protecting it.
“If you had your choice, who are you going to try to go against from a tackle perspective?” asked Chip Kelly. “Right now, you’ve got an All Pro lining up at left tackle [and at right tackle] a very talented but still a rookie. I think all rookies in this league are going to be tested no matter what position you play.”
Kelly has a point. Even if Lane Johnson, the No. 4 overall pick, does come in with a pedigree, he is still completely green. Given a choice between going after him or Jason Peters, you go Johnson all day until he gives you reason to change course. The rookie is going to be tested quite a bit.The Redskins have a pair of quality outside linebackers in Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan that are sure to do just that Monday night.
A position-by-position review of how the Eagles’ offense performed against the Jaguars, with extensive notes on Jason Peters and the line.
Back in early June, Chip Kelly sat at the head of a conference table in the NovaCare Complex and spent a full hour answering reporters’ questions about his program, his offensive scheme and his philosophies.
Not surprisingly, the topic of tempo was brought up. And the first-year Eagles’ head coach tried to explain that he didn’t always want to go at a super-fast speed.
“If they didn’t line up right and they have nine guys standing over there and you have a play called that’s going to run into those nine guys, then maybe playing fast wasn’t the smartest thing to do,” Kelly said. “Sometimes you need to let things get settled down and get an opportunity to make sure that you’ve got the right look.
“A lot of things we’re doing, we’re trying to throw it versus the best-located safety. Well, we better make sure we locate the safeties before we snap the football. Do we want to run it at one guy or run away from another guy? You’ve got to make sure some of those things you can see before you start it. It’s just not all driven on let’s see how many plays we can get run.”
While the truth is the Eagles are going to move quickly, Kelly’s response serves as the foundation for much of what he wants to do offensively: spread the field out, look for a numbers advantage and count on the quarterback to make the right decisions.
Several of the Eagles’ offensive players had seen or heard about Chip Kelly before he became their head coach.
They adjusted to the new scheme, the new practice methods and the new environment in the spring and then the summer. They knew Kelly had great success at Oregon, but they didn’t know exactly how his philosophies would translate to the NFL.
There are tweaks and and adjustments and wrinkles, but many of the basic concepts – tempo, options, taking advantage of the numbers – are the same. And through two preseason games, the players are buying in.
“I haven’t been this excited about football in a long time,” said center Jason Kelce. “The whole way the offense is structured and the scheming and all the stuff we are doing, it’s really exciting to see where we are going to go.”
Jason Kelce has not spent much time away from the NovaCare Complex this offseason. The Eagles’ center estimated that the longest stretch he’s gone without stepping foot in the practice facility has been one week.
“I’ve always been a guy that’s around here a lot,” Kelce said earlier this summer. “Part of that is I think we just have great facilities, and I try to make sure that I’m in shape year-round, trying to improve my physical abilities. And obviously for this year, it was really important just to try to hone in on the quad strength in particular to get back to where it was before the injury.”
Kelce is coming off a torn ACL which he sustained in Week 2 of the 2012 season. The third-year player watched from afar as his teammates labored through a disastrous 4-12 campaign.
Now playing for a new coach, Kelce has earned praise from Chip Kelly all offseason for the work he’s put in at the team’s facility. And Kelly knows the O-Line will play a major role in determining how quickly his offense can get on track.
Nick Foles saw five defenders in the box, and so his decision was simple: hand the ball off to Bryce Brown.
Matt Barkley got a 2 vs. 2 matchup he liked on the perimeter, and so he threw the screen outside to Greg Salas.
The play-calls were exactly the same. Yet the quarterbacks made two different decisions, both which resulted in touchdowns.
We talked about run-pass options in this space over the weekend. And Grantland’s Chris Brown explained them further in his terrific piece about Chip Kelly’s offense. After Monday’s practice, we caught up with several players to gain a better understanding of the “packaged play” concept.
Notes on Lane Johnson, the quarterbacks, Greg Salas and others in our game review of the Eagles’ offense.
We have heard about the benefits of sports science when it comes to fine-tuning athletes and shortening recovery time following physical exertion. But what about when you’re fighting back from serious injury? Seems like an appropriate question, seeing as both Jeremy Maclin and Jason Phillips are about to start on the long road back from ACL tears.
Jason Kelce tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee last September against the Ravens. He began his rehab under Andy Reid and finished it under Chip Kelly. By the sounds of it, there is a noticeable difference in their staffs’ approach.
Sights, sounds and observations from Wednesday’s training camp practice with rookies and selected veterans.