Chip Kelly Update: Where Do We Stand Now?

Mark Saltveit FishWrap

from Video It’s not exactly a bye week, but the Eagles’ compressed start to the season — 3 games in 11 days — has given them extra time to recover from the discouraging loss at home to Kansas City.  So this is a good time to take stock of where Chip Kelly’s renovation project stands. Here’s the short story: The team’s talent …

Chip Kelly Update: Welcome to the NFL, Noob

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline In five short days, the euphoria of Chip Kelly’s stunning NFL debut win over the Redskins has been wiped out by an icy blast of reality as cold as the Gatorade bath Andy Reid got last night.  Two quick losses in close games have put Kelly under the worst pressure of his coaching career, encouraging doubters and raising …

Chip Kelly, the Bullfighter

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Rafael Morán Chip Kelly’s play calling in his NFL debut was effective but not dramatic, with one striking exception.  Late in the second quarter, Kelly called one of the crazier formations you’re ever going to see, perhaps for the first time ever in the pros.  There were only three linemen up front, with a group of three players set wide …

Chip Kelly Update: More Oregon Trickeration?

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

 from Video With the Eagles’ season opener against Washington barely more than a week away, fans are anxious after a puzzling game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Gus Bradley’s team seemed to baffle Philadelphia with their slants and stunts on defense, while Chad Henne (the backup quarterback of this 2-14 team) dissected the Eagles on an opening drive as the Birds gave …

Chip Kelly Update — The Eagles are Curing the Cement

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Chip Kelly got his first win, 14-9 against Carolina Friday, and answered a lot of the questions surrounding his radical makeover of the Eagles. Anxiety among fans and sportswriters turned into swelling excitement as the offense moved into high gear, showing a stout front line against the Panther’s powerful rush and demonstrating some of the deceptively simple flex-plays that Chip …

Chip Kelly Update: the Double Stack Value Meal

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

McDonald’s will sell you a double stack hamburger for a dollar*, an astonishing food value for so little money. Chip Kelly coached his first NFL (preseason) game Friday against the New England Patriots, and served up a heap of double stacks, himself. In this case, the “double stack” is a flexible (aka “packaged”) play with one running back and four …

Chip Kelly Update: Inside the Eagles’ Training Camp

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Mark Saltveit Lincoln Financial Field — the Philadelphia Eagles’ stadium — is black and modern, with severe angles and a skeletal design.  Even the eco-friendly windmills lined up along the roof have a nasty, heavy-metal look; the intertwined blades look more like Death Scythes than renewable energy generators.  If there was a stadium designed by a brilliant and semi-sympathetic Hollywood …

Chip Kelly Update: Torn ACLs and Racial Incidents

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

feature photo by Jimmy Kempski Training camp finally opened for the entire Eagles team, and Chip Kelly faced adversity almost immediately.  First, injuries: not one but TWO ACL tears in the first three days, by #2 receiver Jeremy Maclin and newly acquired linebacker Jason Phillips.  Maclin is a big deal for the Eagles, despite criticism for softness (some call him “self-tackling”); …

Chip and the Eagles: Attack Like Navy Seals

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Chip Kelly’s first training camp hits full stride today, which is exciting, but it started Monday for rookies and selected veterans like center Jason Kelce, new tight end James Casey, and the quarterbacks. If you want a sense of whether veterans are buying in to Kelly’s system, Kelce and Casey showed up early, which is allowed under league rules only …

Chip and the Eagles: Quarterback Thunderdome

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Top photo courtesy of Keith Allison and Matthew Straubmuller I’ve been resisting the endless discussions about the Eagles’ quarterback competition, because as Chip Kelly has said, he simply won’t have the data to make a decision until he sees his players wearing pads and getting tackled. It’s the same exact policy he used in Oregon. In addition to training camp …

Trouble in Philly Town for Chip?

Mark Saltveit FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Philadelphia’s fans are notoriously critical and, as the Eagles mini-camp finished up, there were signs that the burst of initial excitement over Chip Kelly’s new regime was dissolving in a drizzle of worries. The only question is, how much of this worry is legitimate and how much is instinctive gloom-mongering by the fans who once  booed Santa Claus? 1. Starting …