Patrick Causey, on Twitter @InsdeTheHuddle
I am normally not one to lay blame solely on one play, one person or one thing.
Rarely in the NFL does it break that cleanly. Football is the ultimate team game. Every success and every failure is inextricably intertwined to the performance of multiple players.
Indeed, the Eagles were so bad in so many areas tonight that it would be easy to apportion blame appropriately and just move on. Sam Bradford looked like the 18-30-1 quarterback he was in St. Louis. The offensive line looked like it has not received any reinforcements in two years. The defense looked as tired as it should be after it played for an absurdly high 40 minutes.
But each of these failures tie directly back to one person.
The person that Jeffrey Lurie entrusted total control of building this roster with "his guys," of calling the plays on offense, and of coaching this team.
Chip Kelly.
Kelly built this roster in his image. And for the first two weeks, you can't but help think that he built the second coming of the Titanic. Or for an example that hits closer to home: the Dream Team 2.0.
The warning signs were there. I tried my best to highlight them throughout the offseason but received an avalanche of criticism in the process. I was called a "hater," a "Howie Roseman fan boy" and other adjectives that are not suitable for print.
And I do not want to make this an "I told you so" article. I don't have the energy or ego for that. And truth be told, even I didn't think it would be this bad, as I had the Birds going 10-6.
But it's important to keep these issues in perspective to shape our view of the the remainder of the season moving forward.
When the news broke that Kelly was given full control of player personnel, I was strongly against it, suggesting that the move was a recipe for disaster: "Being a head coach in the NFL is hard enough. Add play calling duties to the plate and you are pushing the envelope. Now asking that same individual to oversee scouting, free agency and the NFL draft, and you have a recipe for disaster."
Kelly is, without question, a successful NFL coach. You don't win 20 games in two seasons as a result of luck. But NFL coaches rarely succeed as general managers. As I wrote back in June, "the two jobs require discrete skill sets that many people on Earth simply do not possess simultaneously. For every Bill Belichick in league history, there are 10 coaches who could not handle the dual role of serving as the general manager."
The early returns are in, and they are anything but encouraging.
It was Kelly who decided to trade Nick Foles, a second round pick and a fourth round pick for Bradford and a fifth round pick. Bradford no doubt looks great in training camp and preseason football. He throws a beautiful ball, has a quick release, and has an uncanny ability to process information quickly.
But he is a different quarterback when the game counts. For whatever reason, Bradford plays like his hair is on fire. He gives up on plays too easily, taking the check down option at a rate that would make Alex Smith blush. And he looks like a deer in the headlights when he is under pressure. The turnovers and inaccurate throws make me long for the days that Foles was under center.
It was Kelly that decided to jettison star receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Losing Maclin caused Kelly to draft Nelson Agholor. I wanted Agholor because I love his talent and the Eagles have a clear need at wide receiver. But if Maclin was still on the roster? That pick could have been invested elsewhere, like the secondary or offensive line.
Speaking of the offensive line, it was Kelly who decided not to draft a single offensive lineman since the Eagles selected tackle Lane Johnson with the 4th overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft. That is almost three full drafts without selecting a single lineman.
To make matters worse, Kelly failed to sign any free agent reinforcements this offseason after the Eagles released long time starters Todd Herremans and Evan Mathis. The lack of meaningful depth is becoming apparent as we have been given a rude reminder why Allen Barbre and Andrew Garnder have, until this year, been backups their entire careers.
It was Kelly who targeted injury prone players like Bradford, Kiko Alonso, Walter Thurmond, DeMarco Murray, and Ryan Mathews. It's why I referred to this Eagles team as a potential dynasty built on a "house of cards." Alonso is already out with a knee injury, with rumors swirling that he could be done for the year with another torn acl.
The Eagles are now left having to rely on DeMeco Ryans, a 32-year old inside linebacker that Kelly gave a contract extension despite signs that Ryans, who was coming off his second achilles injury in his career, was not the same player he once was. I love Ryans, but he simply should not be on the field right now.
If more injuries come? If the Eagles lose Thurmond and have to turn to special teams ace Chris Maragos as the starting safety?
Gulp.
It was Kelly who revamped the secondary, throwing big (too much?) money at Byron Maxwell and trading away Bradon Boykin for a coke and bag of peanuts. The Eagles now lack depth in the secondary, having to rely on Maragos as a safety when the Eagles turn to their nickle package because the cornerback they traded up for in the draft, Eric Rowe, has yet to play a single snap this season and looks overwhelmed.
And it was Kelly who gutted a team that had gone 20-12 in his first two years. It bears repeating: the most successful NFL franchise value continuity and avoid roster turnover like the plague.
Chip Kelly embraced it, figuring that he could get avoid a let down by targeting players with a "growth mindset." The Eagles are relying on 11 (!) new starters this year and the lack of continuity is plainly obvious.
In a bit of irony, it is this last point that serves as the silver lining to Kelly's playbook for success. With so many new starters, it was always going to take time for this team to gel. The Eagles are still relatively healthy. If they can somehow manage to prevent this season from becoming a complete dumpster fire over the next two weeks, they can still turn things around.
That is especially true given the dire state of the NFC East. The Giants are dreadful.
The Cowboys will be without Tony Romo (broken clavicle) and Dez Bryant (broken bone in his foot) for the foreseeable future. Add to it the loss of Greg Hardy, Randy Gregory, Rolondo McClain, and Orlando Scandrick, and it's fair to wonder how much the Cowboys have left.
And the Redskins are the Redskins. Even though they got a good win against the St. Louis Rams, they will still find a way to mess this thing up.
So all hope is not lost. Remember, the Eagles started out 1-3 in Kelly's first season before finishing the season on a 9-3 tear. The Eagles can still turn this ship around assuming things start to break right. But they must do so quickly.
Kelly better hope the Eagles can turn things around. Because the honeymoon in Philadelphia is over. Kelly asked for full roster control. He received full roster control. And he will receive full blame if this continues to go badly.
