Brian Baldinger discusses Eagles QB Carson Wentz. Photo by Andy Lewis / contrastphotography.com

The win in New England was a great day for Eagles fans. And you can’t take that away from the players.

It was a great effort. But after that game, the Eagles were still an atrocious 6-8 for the season, a season so many of us thought the Eagles would dominate.

What went wrong? All Eagle fans have to ask that question. Since whipping the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving in Dallas the Birds have gone 7-11, as of this writing which is on the eve of their game against DeSean Jackson and the Washington Redskins.

Perhaps they can run string a win streak together the way former Eagle coach, Andy Reid, has done with his Chiefs and run away with the NFC East title. But I doubt it and so do you.

Many questions and many theories surround Chip Kelly and his rapidly sinking franchise.
Some are valid while others feel unfounded and without merit. I have watched and studied every game that

Chip has coached and I have some of my own theories as to why they look as bad as they do.
When Chip arrived they used their 1st round draft pick on Lane Johnson and his addition made the Eagles offensive line among the three best in the NFL.

Together with Jason Peters, Evan Mathis, Jason Kelce, and Todd Herremans they started 17 straight games that year and lead the league in rushing while McCoy ran away with the rushing title. Bravo I thought.

That’s the Chip Kelly I thought we were getting when he departed Oregon.

Spread the field, and stretch the field to run the ball. Control the line of scrimmage and control the game. And for 10 game that year they did, although, against better defenses they struggled.

When the running game was zipping along the play action pass game was the best in football. They also lead the NFL in explosive plays that season, measured by plays that gain 20 or more yards, amassing 99 total. The next closest team to the Birds that season totaled 77.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly after lopsided loss to Cardinals. Photo by Andy Lewis /contrastphotography.com

The foundation to that success was a dominant offensive line. But since that year the Eagles have refused to draft and offensive lineman in 2014 or 2015 and they neglected the offensive line in free agency.

This is a complete organizational failure. In 2013 Peters, Mathis, and Herremans were all over 30 years old.

In 2014 they all began to show their age as all three were either injured or regressed.

In addition Jason Kelce missed six weeks with a sports hernia injury. More notable was how poor the backups played. Molk, Kelley, Tobin all looked to be over-matched in many contests.

Yet, after the season the Eagles stayed status quo. They even flipped their 2015 4th round pick for a future pick.

When they played the Lions on Thanksgiving this offensive line was utterly whipped in every category by the front 4 of the Lions. Ngata, Ansah, Jones, Taylor and Reid did whatever they wanted to do.

It was an embarrassing day and Kelly could do nothing but stare at the vision screen inside Ford Field at the destruction. This is the obvious weakness in the deterioration of this team that won the NFC East 2 years ago.

Chip was blinded by the poor offensive line play in 2014 because they scored 7 defensive and return touchdowns. It masked the ugliness on some Sundays. The special teams lead by Dave Fipp, the Special Teams Coach of the year, did a fabulous job of designing blocks and returning kicks for touchdowns. Maragos, Brahmen, and Sproles came as advertised.

The draft has been a near colossal failure. In Chips 3 years whether he had total control of the 21 draft picks or not still is reflective upon his vision. While the jury is still out on many of these players it is fact that they have received very little lift from the players drafted. Johnson, Logan, Hicks are the primary players to give this team consistent play or a spark. And that is far to few.

The systematic demise of proven young talent like Jackson, McCoy, and Maclin simply haven’t been replaced. They do not possess one dangerous offensive player. Not one player that an opposing defense says that they have to stop to win. Its a scheme that if they run the ball well will eventually allow players to have success but only when that happens which is infrequently at this writing.

But ultimately the quarterback position has not been resolved. 5 different quarterbacks have played for Chip thus far and none have established themselves as a player that can command the position. Vick, Foles, Barkley, Sanchez, and Bradford are not the answer. They swung and have missed on the trade for Bradford.

In recent history, college coaches like Spurrier and Saban both missed out on finding or developing a quarterback and the result was that two years alter they went back to the college game. Jimmy Johnson had remarkable success with his first pick in Troy Aikman, but then could not duplicate that success in Miami when he couldn’t find a suitable signal caller.

These are only a few of the obvious failures of Chip Kelly. My problem goes beyond the obvious. I have watched and studied every game the Eagles have played under Chip. They just aren’t very fun to watch. Largely predictable and full of shortcomings, I feel like I watch the same movie every week.

Another Groundhog’s Day. Nothing this year has ever surprised me. An onside kick, a fake punt, a 4th down try, a trick play, a go for broke attitude. Not gimmicks, just well thought out creative coaching. Formations, personnel groupings, players in different positions. Nope. Left all that stuff in Eugene.

With each loss that noise surrounding a possible departure by Chip back to the college ranks was ratcheted up to the point that Chip was forced to address it with his team. While this may not be fair to him it is not without reason. Fans simply feel that he has run out of coaching acumen. Is this all there is to his prowess? If so then maybe the uptempo, no huddle, spread offense has seen better days.

As of this writing what Chip has brought to the NFL, doesn’t feel that different than the run and shoot, or the 46 defense, or the west coast offense. All of those innovations eventually went away as the league caught up with all of those designs.

Of course regardless of scheme or innovation this league and the teams that have success is based upon execution. And right now the Eagles do not execute very well. The question is why? Why do they still struggle with ball handling, and blocking patterns, and catching the football.

Those things should get better and better as the season goes on and new players get more and more comfortable running the plays. And they simply haven’t yet.

I am not part of the movement to run Chip out of town. But I need to see better execution, more determination, and better talent added to this roster. Some of this is coaching and Chip is in charge of that.

And some of it is they need upgrades at many positions and Chip is in charge of that. I would say that if Chip is going to survive in championship-starved Philadelphia. A great first step was the win in New England. We need to see his best work every week.