Things are bad. Really, really bad. The Eagles were somewhat cheered by a stronger second half against the Atlanta Falcons in their Game 1 loss, and hyped up their home showdown against the hated Dallas Cowboys with a cheeky video that poked fun at New Jersey governor and Cowboys fan Chris Christie. Then they rewarded the large national TV audience with …
Ever since Chip Kelly made the bold move of trading All-Pro RB LeSean McCoy to Buffalo for former Duck standout LB Kiko Alonso, NFL executives have been calling him either an absolute genius or a total fool. As of today, a flock of nine Oregon players are on the Philadelphia roster, five of which are defenders: Casey Matthews, Brandon Bair, …
After a soul-crushing three-game losing streak that knocked them out of the playoffs, the Philadelphia Eagles salvaged a bit of respect by beating the New York Giants 34-26 in the season’s final game, despite Odell Beckham Jr.’s best efforts. The rookie phenom tied Michael Irvin as the only other NFL player to get 90+ yards nine games in a row, …
The opening skirmish in Chip Kelly’s 2014 NFL season took place last Friday, and while the results weren’t pretty — especially with the starting offensive line — the team showed a glimpse of its potential. The final score doesn’t really matter — it was a 28-24 loss to the Chicago Bears — but the engine of the offense was clearly …
The Eagles begin preseason play against Chicago tonight, and the results don’t matter one bit — for the standings. Chip Kelly told a press conference that the starters will probably only play 10-15 snaps, as long as they look reasonably competent. (If they go three and out more than once, they’ll have to stay in a bit longer.) But these …
Wow. After weeks of dull silence, there was an explosion of Chip Kelly news this week. The somewhat reclusive coach went over the head of the local press and swept national football reporters off their feet, while his players improved, fought and generally created genuine excitement. As near as anyone can remember, Chip has given only a single one-on-one print interview …
There are some interesting defensive tactics that appeared in the Alamo Bowl win in addition to the continued emergence of DeForest Buckner on the defensive line. His star has been rising and the trendline of his growth manifested itself again in the Oregon Spring Game. Let’s look at what he is doing so well, and how Defensive Coordinator Don Pellum …
Chip Kelly didn’t just bring his offensive scheme with him to the Philadelphia Eagles. For the second time in his coaching career, he changed a 4-3 base defense to his 3-4 scheme. To ease this transition in Year 2, Kelly drafted a player in the fifth round who he relied on during the defensive scheme change at Oregon: defensive lineman …
The Philadelphia Eagles are increasingly becoming an NFL reflection of the Oregon Ducks. The NFL draft earlier this month saw two Ducks go to the Eagles, wide receiver Josh Huff (3rd round) and defensive lineman Taylor Hart (5th round). The Eagles also signed un-drafted UO defensive lineman Wade Kelikipiki, the three joining five other former Ducks already on the Eagles roster, in Brandon …
The long, slow, dull days of winter are over and Chip Kelly’s Eagles are crackling with activity. He drafted a solid if unflashy group of players (including Ducks Josh Huff and Taylor Hart), added a number of UDFAs (such as a savage-tackling kicker nicknamed “Murderleg”) and wielded some innovative technologies that caused a stir around the league. Better yet, Chip’s …
In my last column, I wrote about Chip Kelly’s long post-season silence, even amid the controversy over releasing star WR DeSean Jackson. The weeks since January 4th have felt like an eternity of baseless speculation, what-ifs and angst over every conceivable draft pick. There have been so many mock drafts that a bunch of writers in Philadelphia have started an #MDMD …
The Oregon Ducks football team is scheduled to play its annual Spring Game on what should be a picturesque Saturday inside Autzen Stadium. And with it, the 2014 season will be officially under way. And, like every season, another batch of seniors have graduated, which leads to a bunch of question marks heading into the Spring Game coming up on Saturday. Some of the …