Brian Baldinger

The Eagles won 10 games for a second straight season under the guidance of Chip Kelly in
2014. Big whoop!
What went wrong and what should the Eagles brass learn from a December crash
and burn that saw them tumble from 9-3 to a disappointing 10-6?
Malcolm Jenkins, Darren Sproles, Casey Matthews, and Mark Sanchez were nice additions. The emphasis on special teams
with new faces like Chris Maragos, Bryan Braman, Trey Burton, and Cody Parkey saw incredible dividends.
Special Teams Coordinator Dave Fipp should easily win Special Teams Coach of the Year.
But mostly the Eagles returned the same team that won the NFC East in 2013 by going 7-1 down
the stretch.
Sometimes that is a good thing. But often their is fool’s gold that awaits when the team doesn’t build upon the success from the year before. Blowout wins in 2013 vs the Raiders, Giants, Redskins and Bears can camouflage some weaknesses. When the first year starting quarterback puts up TD-INT numbers like 27-2 perhaps it was mandatory to go inside those numbers and see just how inflated those numbers are.
Weaknesses within the roster like depth along the offensive line and the inability to cover
man to man vs the elite receivers were not readily apparent with the 7-1 finish in 2013. When those areas were exposed by opponents in 2014 the Eagles were not in a position to fix the roster.
Bringing back essentially the same team is an issue for many teams that have had success in
this league. Take a look at this year’s 49ers team. While no one had more success than the
49ers from 2011-2013, that stagnant roster became old, injured, and stale in 2014. As a
result the coach and organization parted ways. The 49ers are now looking to see how they can
rebound.
On the other hand, the two teams that met in the 2013 AFC Championship game, The Broncos and Patriots did anything but stay status quo. Immediate upgrades to each teams defense were in the headlines for
the off season free agency period.
It became an arms race between the two teams. It wasn’t just the defense that grabbed the headlines. Where would the Patriots be without the trade for Tim Wright at tight end and the addition of wide receiver Brandon LaFell? How about the Patriots adding Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and offensive lineman Will Montgomery? With those key additions both teams are resting during wild card weekend with identical 12-4 records.
Perhaps the only team that returned much of the same team from a year ago is the Seattle
Seahawks and their is a lot of football to be played before we crown them repeat champions. My
gut feeling as we turn the calendar year is that they will not repeat in large part because
they are bringing much of the same team back from a year ago.
So what is to be learned by the Eagles? The positive from being bounced from the playoffs
after their December swoon is that they have a head start in improving their roster for 2015.
Full attention can be put on evaluating their own roster and who should be retained and who
should be jettisoned.
The scouting of the East-West Shrine game and the Senior Bowl can be
done without any game to prepare for. And difficult questions can be analyzed on key players.
If I were on the personnel side of the Eagles I would be questioning why Jason Peters
performance slid so drastically down the final month of the season.
Does DeMeco Ryans have great football to be played stored inside an aging and injured body?
Can any of the cornerbacks that played this year be counted upon for 2015?
Is Nate Allen a serviceable safety, or after six years of inconsistent play does he merit a return? Is Cody Parkey a championship caliber kicker or is he flawed when it comes to late season kicking?
These a only a few of the difficult questions that must be answered. I haven’t even begun to
address the Eagles biggest concerns. Can the quarterback dilemma be solved and can the Eagles
stop turning the ball over in record numbers.
If those two questions can’t be improved then perhaps the rest of the roster moves may only be a moot point.
An interesting note is that all six AFC Playoff teams have lined up with the same quarterback
for all 16 games of the 2014 season. Durability is as important as ability when beginning the
evaluation at that position.
But let me be clear. The sky isn’t falling at the NovaCare facility. Mistakes were obviously
made in putting the 2014 roster together. The key is to not let that happen again. On average
over the past five years there are five new playoff teams each year.
There is no reason why the Birds can’t be preparing for a playoff game in January of 2016. The free time they have now will be well spent to address their weaknesses.
Expect many changes and difficult decisions from the Eagles over the next several months
Hopefully the new Eagles will be an improved Eagles come 2015.