One positive thing one might say about Chip Kelly this season so far is that he’s not trying to make excuses for the Philadelphia Eagles having a bad start, putting a lot of the blame on himself.
The Eagles are off to a 1-3 start after a major overhaul to their roster over the offseason, that included the addition of Sam Bradford to be the team’s starting quarterback and signing DeMarco Murray for $8 million a season from the Dallas Cowboys as the team’s starting running back, while trading LeSean McCoy, who has been quite successful and popular in Philadelphia, to the Buffalo Bills. So far, those moves haven’t been having the positive effect Kelly planned for.
But it’s not those changes he thinks have been causing the problems. It’s not just his own play calling, but according to Kelly himself, it’s been an issue and it’s something he has to improve on.
I’ve got to do a better job play calling. They’re not successful. You can’t sit there and say it’s working. We’re not successful on first and second down. We haven’t been successful in the first half of games. I have to question my own calls when they don’t work.
The Eagles are only 29th in the NFL with 294 yards per game of total offense. The offensive line struggling has been a big part of that, but there is talent on this team, and things should be looking better, if Kelly managed to find exactly what hasn’t been working.
Bradford has been completing 60.7% of his passes for 948 yards, six touchdown passes and four interceptions, posting an 82.2 passer rating. Murray isn’t even the leading rusher on the team, Ryan Mathews is. Murray has just 47 yards on 29 carries through three games, scoring one touchdown. He also has 11 receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown.