Chip Kelly has won twenty games in two seasons and has by all accounts brought a fresh perspective to Philly and the NFL but is that enough for a rabid fan base who are desperate for a Super Bowl. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground for the expectations of the fan base who watch every move like they are sips of air from a dying breathing apparatus. Is Kelly a victim of his early success? We're going to take a look at Kelly and his early success and how it may have hurt him in the long run.
In season one there was a point when the Eagles were 3-5 and looked like the team that was coming off a 4-12 season and in need of rebuilding. Somehow and in amazing fashion they won seven of the last eight games with the biggest win coming in Dallas to clinch a playoff berth. Sounds like a fairy tale right? It turned out to be just that though as New Orleans beat them at home in the playoffs. What's wrong with this picture you're probably wondering? The talent level of the team was that of a 4-12 team and it still needed more young talent coming in the form of high draft picks. In one season the team went from 4-12 to 10-6 which means a significant drop to the bottom of the draft board in each round. This doesn't seem to be a big deal you say, you draft talent wherever you draft at says a champion. Lets see what happened in season two.
Season two started out rather unchampion like because Kelly shocked the world by releasing without comment one of their major players, DeSean Jackson. It was a move that shocked the entire NFL community and added a new need to the team that was already drafting at the backend of round one. This move foreshadowed a theme for Kelly that essentially said "this is my team". Kelly and GM Roseman next turned their attention to the draft and to be honest they both struck out in their second collaboration with adding talent to the team through the draft. A solid contribution only came from two of the team's eight picks with first round pick Marcus Smith offering a very tiny contribution on special teams. Kelly to his credit coached a banged up team to a 10-6 record but they sputtered down the stretch losing three of their last four games which eliminated them from the playoffs. What's next and will the fans be patient?
Remember Kelly essentially saying "this is my team" from earlier, well in year three he has turned the table over trading Nick Foles and LeSean McCoy and choosing not to resign Jeremy Maclin. Sam Bradford is now the Qb and DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Jordan Matthews and Miles Austin makeup the offense. This is a huge make over and represents some risk as owner Jeff Lurie stated at the NFL Annual Meeting. The question is will the fanbase stay with Kelly and his rebuild or will they abandon his unorthodox blueprint for building a team. Season three will write itself and it's going to be a tale of the ages or a coach on the brink of getting tossed out of the big leagues.
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