Kelly’s Offense As Electric As Advertised
Chip Kelly’s offense certainly stole the show on Monday night.
Kelly’s offense was fast and efficient, and the Redskins were completely unprepared to defend it.
The element of surprise was with the Eagles in this game. Kelly had the Redskins completely off balance from the get-go. They moved the football at will, encountering very little defensive resistance along the way.
Kelly showed creativity and bravado throughout the night. On the team’s first possession, the head coach was faced with a 4th and 1 on the Washington 21. The first year head coach was not satisfied with the idea of settling for three, and opted to go for it with a successful four-yard running play.
Later in the first half, we got a taste of the unique formations that Kelly can bring to the table. The Eagles ran a play where Kelly split out offensive tackles Jason Peters and Lane Johnson wide and then handed the ball to LeSean McCoy for a nice gain.
Kelly leaned heavily on the running game, calling 49 runs to 25 passes. It was a run-pass ratio that would have been absolutely unheard of in the previous regime.
The offense ran 53 plays in the first half alone. They put up 26 points, and if not for the flukey backwards pass turnover, it could very easily have been a 33-0 game at the half.
Defensive Surprise
The only thing more surprising than the dominant Eagles offense was how successful the Eagles’ defense was.
The heavily maligned unit did exactly what they needed to do to succeed. They were opportunistic, and took advantage of a rusty Robert Griffin.
The defense forced three turnovers, a safety, and didn’t allow a single point until late in the third quarter.
A performance like this is huge for this group. They were able to build up some confidence early, and then played with good intensity for the rest of the game. Instead of letting the Redskins push them around, they took the fight to Washington.
However, I think its important not to oversell what the defense did tonight. As a team, the Redskins were just bad tonight. And Robert Griffin clearly wasn’t 100%. The quarterback looked jittery and was ineffective throughout the night. He was overthrowing receivers, didn’t have explosiveness in his legs, and made some uncharacteristic mistakes. It was the first time that he had thrown multiple interceptions in a single game since high school.
Once the Eagles got off to their fast start, it forced Griffin to press even more than he already was, and the mistakes by running back Alfred Morris (who was responsible for a fumble and a safety) didn’t make things easier. The Redskins shot themselves in the foot repeatedly tonight, and to the Eagles’ credit, they took advantage of the situation.
As Griffin began to settle down later in the game, the Redskins’ offense had more success against the defense.
Quick Thoughts
Offense
- Strong performance from Michael Vick to start the season. Vick thrived in his first start of the season, and did a good job facilitating Kelly’s offense. The quick, sharp decisions that we saw in the first two preseason games resurfaced tonight. He had a soft touch on his passes, and was explosive with his legs.
- Vick gave the Eagles the lead in the first quarter, finding DeSean Jackson on a 25-yard touchdown pass right immediately after the Eagles recovered an Alfred Morris fumble. Vick struck again by threading a beautiful pass to Brent Celek for a 28-yard score in the second quarter. The veteran also scored on a touchdown run to put the team up 26-7 at the end of the half.
- Vick even threw a nice block on a run from McCoy in the fourth quarter that led to an Eagles first down.
- LeSean McCoy was was spectacular, running the ball 18 times for over 100 yards in the first half alone. McCoy struck again in the second half with a 34-yard touchdown run. Kelly made him the focal point of the offense, something that Andy Reid refused to do, and McCoy responded with one of the strongest games of his career. He finished with 31 carries for 184 yards and a touchdown.
- DeSean Jackson was the focal point of the passing offense, catching seven passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. Jackson got into several heated moments with Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall.
- The only issue that the team had offensively came in protection. The offensive line allowed Vick to take a number of hits, and gave up a handful of sacks.
- Uncharacteristic mistake by Jason Avant in the fourth quarter, fumbling away a ball that allowed Washington to have an opportunity to get back in the game. Avant atoned for his error with a key third-down reception that extended a drive that helped the Eagles work more time off of the clock.
- No sign of James Casey in this one. The newly signed tight end had been dealing with a hamstring injury, but he was active for tonight’s game, he just didn’t make any impact.
Defense
- Brandon Boykin had excellent coverage on Josh Morgan during his interception in the first quarter. Boykin broke up another pass in the fourth quarter.
- Cary Williams has been the cause of a lot of distractions, but he was able to back up his talk with a great game tonight. Williams had a beautiful interception on Griffin to start the second half that set up another Eagles touchdown that gave the team a 33-7 lead. The former Raven broke up a pass on fourth down in the fourth quarter that ended a drive when the Redskins were trying to make their comeback. He picked up a sack as well.
- Trent Cole had a strong game tonight, making several tackles and forcing a fumble on Alfred Morris on the first Washington offensive play.
- Mychal Kendricks was very active tonight, leading the team with 10 tackles.
- DeMeco Ryans picked up a sack on Griffin in the second half. Ryans was also in on eight stops.
- Clifton Geathers and Damian Square made several nice plays against the run.
- Vinny Curry was inactive tonight.
Special Teams
- Nice job by Alex Henery to make two consecutive 48-yard field goals in the first quarter. Henery made the first attempt, but it didn’t count as Kelly had thrown a flag to challenge the previous play. Henery came right back after the review and drilled his second attempt right down the middle to make it a 3-0 game.
- Chris Polk had a great special teams tackle to pin Washington deep in their own territory on a kickoff in the first half.
- I thought it was interesting that the Eagles opted to send DeSean Jackson back to return a couple of punts during the first half. I thought Damaris Johnson had shown enough in the preseason to keep the team from even thinking about going to Jackson. When Jackson was in the game, Washington punter (and former Eagle) Sav Rocca kicked the ball away from Jackson and out of bounds, setting up the Eagles with great field position.
Final Thoughts
To say that I’ve been skeptical of the direction that the Eagles’ franchise has been headed in since the Chip Kelly hire is putting it very mildly. I wanted Gus Bradley, and was disappointed with the Kelly hire. I was not at all happy with how the Eagles settled for Billy Davis as the defensive coordinator. And I didn’t agree with the decision to bring Michael Vick back for another season. I didn’t give the Eagles much of a chance to win tonight, but they proved me dead wrong.
That skepticism is still there, but I was very impressed with how the Eagles looked tonight.
It was the most fun that I’ve had watching an Eagles game since the 2010 season. Tonight the Eagles looked like a team that was hungry, and had something to prove. They were electric on and off of the field. It was refreshing to see a football team that was organized, efficient, and fast. Even more refreshing was to see Kelly animated and energetic on the sidelines after 14 years of Andy Reid’s emotionless, blank stare.
Overall, I’ve still got my doubts about the team. I feel that the defensive performance was more of a product of the Redskins being that bad rather than the defense being that good. I still don’t believe that Vick is built to last as this team’s quarterback. And certainly you have to wait and see if defenses will be able to catch up to this offense or not. But I came away from this game much more optimistic than ever about what Chip Kelly could possibly turn this team into several years from now. While my win outlook for the season remains low, the upcoming games promise to be as intriguing as ever.
Denny Basens is the editor of GCobb.com. Email him at dbasens@ycp.edu, or follow him on Twitter.
Dax – 7 catches for 104 yards – not bad for a so called one trick pony.
Cary Williams ballin to the dismay of the haters.
Shady slashing and cutting for 31-185 yards- No to shabby Shady.
B Davis stay out of the prevent!
Chip keep your foot onthe gas. Congrats on yur first NFL win!
Vick beats the skins again.
Wussup Haters!!!
I told you no Chip Kelly team is gonna have 6 wins they now have a good chance to be 3-0 going into Denver.
That you did! And I understand your faith in Kelly much better now than I did previously.
Cmon Bro. Tell us the truth. You wanted Gus Bradley because of a youtube video. If that video was never made you wouldnt even know who Gus Bradley is. You start the article off well but end it in a depressing note. Did you lose money on this game or something? You didnt even point the fact out that we WON THE GAME a wins a win my friend! we went into DC and sucked the life out of that crowd.
No one wants to hear your bitching and moaning
Ha ha – A guy with the name EaglesSuck is upset because Denny is skeptical.
Anyways, the Eagles played a great half and caught the Skins flatfooted. I wish they would have kept their foot on the gas a little longer.
I said before the game started that the Eagles needed to get some turnovers to win, and that’s what they did.
Good game by Mike Vick!
You really needed me to point out to you that the Eagles won?
I wanted Gus Bradley, and still would take him, because I wanted the Eagles to shift philosophies from offense to defense, and he built an incredible defense out in Seattle filled with big, physical players, and turned Chris Clemons, a guy who couldn’t see the field here, into a stud.
Denny I agree with you on many points on all your articles and by many I mean like 95+% but get rid of toy pessimism with Kelly. what we witnessed tonight was absolute brilliance, wash had no clue what we were doing on any play, neither did you, neither did I , neither did any beat writers, neither did any scouts , neither did Gus Bradley while he was watching. nobody. that shit was poetry in motion and i thought it was brilliant he went vanilla 2nd half. I don’t think chip showed us a fraction of what he has to offer.
btw fuck Gus Bradley. that guy got shit for brains starting gabbert over virtually anyone in the nfl proves it too.
No doubt what Kelly did today went a long way towards making me a believer, tonight was an absolute joy…but I can’t buy in after just one game.
I can understand the pessism with not buying into the personnel after 1 game but if you aren’t buying into chip after 1 game I feel bad for ya Denny that ur soo scared to accept genious that you can’t admit what your own eyes and brain are telling you.
also you mention believing but no comment about my Gus point. could u imagine if our personnel was jax and our coach was trotting out gabbert over pee wee Herman? u, me, every commentator and beat writer would be smashing Gus’s dick with a sledge hammer for the next week
Yeah you’re right, as much I like Gus, I don’t know why he’s wasting his time with Gabbert…even Chad Henne is a much better option.
And hey maybe I’ll be the last one to sign up for the Kelly bandwagon, and maybe I’ll look like a damn fool haha but I just need to see more. We’ve seen him pass his first test with flying colors, but there’s a lot of other situations that he hasn’t been in yet.
pessism lol
true regardless u won’t look like a fool bro. if your writing is primarily based on being a fan you are guarded. if your writing is primarily based on being objective your objective and take into account past history which is relevant. …
this city is gonna be going bananas in the next month , we will be at worst 3-1 after 4 games but the true tests start after week 4 IMO
last but not least bush league auto drafting in the gcobb yahoo league
The only thing I would nitpick about was the Eagles once up 33-7 should have gotten SE back-up in and keep the pedal to the medal..
I thought both Vi k,McCoy probably took some needless hits
And would have like to seem more of Fokes, Brown
wR D Johnson get some Touches..
Safety Chung made a very poor leap and keft his feet way to early to early on Redskins last TD Pass which was bad to see
Again the Eagles played well, fast and with a lot of passion which we haven’t seem in some time, but with 2 games upcoming in the next 10 days (at home)
They will need contributions from more players
So as not to burn out their Star Players, and after being up .33-7 early in the 3rd Quarter, I was hoping for the stars to be resting and some back-ups get some key reps.. All in all, a great game to watch and root for..
How Refreshing…The Eagles Ran The Ball!Mike Vick Played Well And Made Excellent Decisions
agreed I kept saying FUCK Andy Reid after every shady run …
Agree pman… i would have loved to see foles come in late and keep things moving. Great game tho.
Did Washington return a fumble for a TD?…I only saw the game in bits and pieces.
Yeah more backhanded congrats!! It’s ok to be critical. But these articles be depressing you would think we lost the damn game.
Yes frank. Birds moved the ball into the 30 during the first drive… vick passed the ball backward (kinda) it was batted down and returned for a td.
*10. Not the 30.
anyone bet the over tonight?
Yup. o52. Got a bit worried in 3rd quarter when the teams were just punting, but by the start of the 4th, it was all good.
very impressive game in almost all facets. I disagree a lil bit with ya Denny where u discredit our d , I think they completely took away what wash wanted to do which was light up our 2ndary by getting immediate pressure on rg on almost every single play. that pressure took away everything skins wanted to do period. skns started moving the ball when we started only sending 3 or 4…
great game, great start to the season
very impressed with desean minus his selfish after the play stuff with hall which could’ve and should’ve been penalized
extremely impressed with McCoy actually blown away. he made the skins look silly almost the whole night. matter of fact his running style, jukes, power and speed made 99% of his fellow rbs in the league look subpar
and totally blown away by chips play calling and schemes. was not a fan of going for it at all whatsoever on drive 1 but hey it worked and in addition it was very cool and impressive and made me smile because that goof Reid would’ve never had the stones to make that call. very impressed by chip and extremely glad Reid is gone. run run run run pass !
helluva game by Kendricks!
armyprince I feel ya buddy. How depressing can a so called eagle fan writer be?
“Overall, I’ve still got my doubts about the team. I feel that the defensive performance was more of a product of the Redskins being that bad rather than the defense being that good. I still don’t believe that Vick is built to last as this team’s quarterback.”
COME ON GARY GET THIS DOUCHEBAG OF A SO CALLED JOURNALIST NAMED DENNY OFF OF YOUR SITE AND GET A REAL PERSON WHO BLEEDS GREEN!!!!!!!!! HIS ARTICLES ARE PATHETIC AFTER A GREAT WIN ON THE ROAD.
All that I can say after skimming this crappy article is what a waste of space. Pure negadelphia at it’s finest. Get rid of this bum GMAN!!!!!!!
Sorry, you’re stuck with me!
Rocko get some class clown
Lesean Mccoy is the MVP of this team. He started to look a little gased and tired tho towards the end. I think 31 carries is slighty a little to high. Too much wear and tear and increases his chances of getting hurt. I say more around 26 carries is more like it.. I do not understand why Chris Polk is not getting any carries. The dude is a beast. He’s better than Bryce Brown in my opinion.
CT-I agree… it was a great game by shady and vick but i would have loved to see a fresh group in there towards the end. Perhaps Foles leads a drive or 2 midway through the 3rd. Clearly vick was banged up.
I can’t wait until chip slaughters that fatass retard Andy Reid in 2 weeks. I’ll be there ‘
I saw the fumble on the 11:30 highlights and it looked like an incomplete pass to me…Good to see the Birds let a cheap call bring them down.
Vick looked good, McCoy was a beast , receivers looked good.
Defense played with some balls.
Good game: Wish I could have seen the whole thing.
GOOD TO SEE THE BIRDS NOT LET THE CHEAP FUMBLE CALL BRING THEM DOWN!
Denny, if I was you i would take down your last post, the one that was like an obituary for this season, if you remember, I was the one who countered everything you said. My comments were, Vick playing like 2010, the O line dominating, the special teams putting us in great field position D n O wise, and no, us real fans are not gonna relax cause its one game, if all u haters remember, we were only suppose to win 4 games all year, this team is everything we said it would be, great night to be a REAL Eagles fan!!!!!
Absolutely, hey you nailed it and they did everything you said they would to the letter! I stand by my concerns for the long term, but hey I’ve got absolutely no problem standing up and admitting I was wrong and taking my hat off to those who had it right. And tonight that’s you and a lot of others, so hey congrats, I hope they have similar success in the coming weeks!
And no, I would never take down previous posts. I’m not ashamed of when I’m wrong, you confront and learn from your mistakes, you don’t try and cover them up.
str8 class Denny!
Denny, I give you much respect! To admit that gets much love!
Bassens writes a good blog….Everyone has a POV, even twitterbirds who use cliches like ‘haters’.
FUCK I don’t wanna go to bed cuz all ill dream about is chip brilliance and me chanting FUCK U ANDY at eagles queefs game in 2 weeks
Denny- outside of your side work for the KC chiefs… i have no issue with your blogs. I too share concerns for the D and while i expected the birds 0 to look good this year… i dont blame anyone that states their opinions and backs them up. U always stick to your guns but admit when u are wrong. Good work.
Thank you, I appreciate that!
andrew p, good stuff buddy I agree with you 100%. Denny as much as I dislike your articles that aren’t in support of this team, at least you got the balls (and very little balls that is) to not let anything get under your skin and I can dig that though your articles are still crap.
mhenski you little pedigree chum. Belt-up and swallow a pair of bollocks. You also didn’t support us winning either because you’re on the fence. Cock-up and get off your bum and go get stuffed by the other nancy-boys on here who really want mainly MV7 and other team members to fail. Put a lid on it chap and go and have a shag session with the other fake fans.
Thank you, and hey I have no issue with anyone who either disagrees or doesn’t like what I write…everyone’s got their opinions, and if we didn’t have conflicting views with one another, then this site wouldn’t be much fun.
I try took at things as realistically as I can, and if that comes off as negativity, then so be it, but if you want a guy who is strictly Mr. Sunshine when it comes to the Eagles, then I highly recommend you check out Dave Spadaro of PhiladelphiaEagles.com. You won’t find a more positive Eagles writer than that haha.
Hating on Spadaro. Classic Denny right there
Rocko were you born in England or live now? Or are you wanna of those greasy hipsters that walks around America talking, writing and acting British?
Lmao! Tell’em…. chap. Lol. I love it
Trent cole is a monster at linebacker.. hes going to hurt somebody.. He just touches the running backs and they go down.. He lost 10 lbs to play linebacker and to give him a running start at a quarterback is dangerous..
You guys are going to love how Chip Kelly coaches. Attention to detail, no stone left unturned. Look at the STs. When you believe all three phases are relevant, you have a good chance to win games. How come Reid didn’t give Henery that tip that has him booming kickoffs? Too much focus on his Worst Crap Offense.
With all of Chip’s brilliance, he made some mistakes tonight. But this coach will evaluate himself as well as his players. No blinders on, no ideology that gets in the way of just winning games.
To all the people who were naysayers? Welcome aboard the wagon. There is real reasons to believe.
You are nuts..
I want chip to win but this game was almost blown in the end. Why? Because NFL teams ADJUST and the skins did. Had RG3 been i9n mid-season form we Lose last nights game.
I know it’s only 1 game, but the offense looks pretty good. After the 1st drive brainfart, they were pretty much confusing & unstoppable. How many yards & TD’s did the Hindenburg cost Shady, in his career? Shady, as I said before, is unreal. Got to give to Vick, for 1 game, he has made a goof of me. Let’s see if he can continue to do so. I still have major concerns of his health, decisions, & the DF. Hopefully he can continue to make a goof of me, & I’d be glad to eat crow on here, if he does so. Maybe it was just getting rid of the Hindenburg. I gotta admit, that’s the 1st time in 2-5 years, that I’ve had fun watching a Birds game. My hand is still sore, from all the high 5’s with my Son’s, Brothers, & Friends. We’ll see? Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong, but it is only 1 game, against a befuddled team, & a scared & tentative QB!
Denny, great article. I too shared all of your same concerns and wanted Gus Bradley. That being said, I was clearly wrong with a number of my concerns as well (it’s still only one game). People on this site should not criticize people or an author for having doubts. Anyone who has followed this team should have some doubts or you obviously know nothing about the Eagles.
That said, I hope we can get another W against SD. I too have not enjoyed an Eagles game that much in a long, long time. Huge win for the Birds!
WHERE”S VINNIE????????????????
Lol that clown got a mouth full of words that he’s eating right now
Seriously though, how great is McCoy? We are seeing true brilliance at the RB position in a city that was spoiled by having #36.
Great special teams play and good solid performance by the defense. Kendricks was everywhere last night.
bugs, how many yards, TD’s & wins did the Hindenburg cost Shady & this team, because of his stupid stubbornness & arrogance? I hate him even more now, than I ever did! Even if we don’t win any more than 6 games, I hope we destroy KC & the Cowgirls both games.
Agreed. Last year especially. He came off of a 1500 yd season in 2011 to that dreck last year.
Look at the KC game. 28 total rushes for the whole KC team with 16 for Charles even though they were up 21-2 in the 2nd quarter.
And Denny…. Great Article…Even better Gut Check. Much Appreciated !
Thank you!
Seriously,
I am way worried about this team now.
After they took advantage of a team playing vanilla adjustments were made. I am concerned as the Second Half of football was Same Old Eagles.
You can take this game and get all giddy but I tell you this Offense and Defense are not as good as they appeared early in this game. This game played in week 8 I wonder about the out come.
Redskins were inept and the birds should have been up by a-lot more.
I do like the fact that we now run the ball with a running back. That’s football.
Team is improved but all you Lunatics that think there is not a few clunkers coming watch out!
Not too late for some of you hoes to jump on the wagon. I tokd yall we were making the playoffs this year. Getcha popcorn ready.
It’s a long Season and it’s a Week to Week Battle every Game
What happened in Week #1 will mean very little as the Season goes on..
The NFL is about Adjustments and the Teams with the Best Coaches who make the proper Adjustments with their Game Plans week to week tend to have their Teams prepared the best to Win each and every game..
It’s great the Eagles won and they really looked impressive in the first half..
Should they have won by 20 pts, probably, but a Win is a Win is a Win..
Now Coach Kelly and his Staff have plenty of footage for Coaching Sessions
Offensivley, Vick had a very strong game but did miss poorly on a few passes where Receivers were wide open running down the field (Celek and Ertz come to mind down by the end-zone early on)
I beleive they came out of the game relatively healthy which is key as the Season progresses… I liked how the O/Line played.. Peters,Mathis had their usual strong games.. and Kelce & Herremans played pretty well and Top Pick Lane Johnson held his own and was a beast in the Running Game I thought, but has some work to do in Pass-Protection.. He leans forward a bit and needs to get a stronger core and set his legs below him to better “Catch” Pass-Rushers and then redirect them with his long reach.. He has a promising Future and looks further along then the other Top OT taken in the First Round (Eric Fisher & Luke Joeckel & DJ Fluker at this Point)
Regal Eagle you could spoil a wet dream. Get behind your team and stop being a pu$$y.
Denny you’re one of the biggest haters I know. Can’t wait to see you keep eating words. Make sure you pour some bbq sauce on that shit
Well, you don’t know me actually…not even a little bit haha, but rest assured I’m looking forward to eating every last word if it comes to that!
Just negative man. It’s unfortunate. It’s all good though. You will be proved wrong….. again
Kendricks doing his best Dawkins impersonation in suplexing RG3 on his head was one of the best things I’ve seen on this Eagles team in years. Seriously, its been so long since we had a nasty dude on D that put intimidation into opposing players…I hope Kendricks keeps it up (he was my favorite pick in the draft that year) and becomes that. Why didn’t Kendricks ever blitz before? he can be a nightmare with his speed.