Bomani Jones talks Chip Kelly the GM vs. Chip Kelly the Genius

"At some point we're going to have to separate Chip the Visionary from Chip the GM and Coach... The way I see it, Chip the Visionary is kind of getting undone by Chip the GM and Chip the Coach." - Bomani Jones

On Tuesday, I had a conversation on Twitter with Chris Brown of Smart Football about the Eagles guard play and how it reflected on Chip Kelly's performance as GM. You can see most of it here. How ESPN's Bomani Jones found it, I do not know, but he did and riffed on it in his daily radio show/podcast last night. It has some elements of national media bluster, but I obviously agree with the broad strokes.

You can listen to the clip below, or the whole podcast here. 

From The Right Time podcast, full episode here: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=13667579

Offensive Responsibility: Stop the Turnovers

Michael Vick

The number one problem with the Eagles through three games is their defense. By almost every measure other than sacks, Juan Castillo’s unit ranks near the bottom of the league. But I sense there’s a healthy sense of dissatisfaction with the offense as well.

On the surface, those concerns seem overblown. The Eagles offense, after all, ranks 10th in the NFL in points per game and sixth in yards.They have the fourth-most first downs and the fourth-highest third down conversion rate. Moreover, they’ve done all of this despite an offensive line that was hastily stitched together and having their MVP quarterback get knocked out of two games.

So what’s the problem? Obviously, after last week, short yardage and red zone concerns are high on the list of many Eagles fans. We will have to see if those issues linger through the rest of the season.

But perhaps the biggest culprit in the offense’s sporadic ineptitude has simply been turnovers. Against Atlanta Michael Vick threw an interception and lost two fumbles. Then last Sunday the Giants came away with three interceptions, one from Vick and two gifts from Mike Kafka. The Eagles currently have the 6th-worst turnover per drive ratio in the NFL.

Off those six turnovers, the Eagles opponents scored 28 points — easily the difference between winning and losing against the Falcons and Giants. A large portion of that blame rests with the Eagles defense, which needs to step up and protect the lead when the offense makes a mistake. But the defense’s ineptitude doesn’t absolve the offense of responsibility either.

Until Castillo can shore up the Eagles defense, Vick (with injured hand) and company have to be extra smart with the football. Even with a sieve of a linebacker corps, both of the last two games were winnable until the end. A few more points, a couple fewer mistakes, and maybe you start turn things around again.

Photo from Getty.

Put Nnamdi Asomugha Back at Cornerback

Tony Gonzalez Eagles Pass Defense

One of the things I never thought I’d say about new Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo was that his schemes are too complicated. And while overall his system seems to be an order of magnitude simpler than ex-coordinator Sean McDermott, Castillo still shares his predecessor’s maddening tendency to overcomplicate things in some respects.

When I re-watched the Eagles pass defense in their loss to the Falcons on Sunday, some defensive breakdowns were apparent. There was poor coverage here and there by all the linebackers as well as the safeties. Overall, though, I wasn’t as discouraged by the performance of the players as one particular scheme that Castillo came back to on multiple occasions.

That scheme involved bringing one or more of the safeties, Jarrad Page and Kurt Coleman, up into the box or into underneath coverage on a receiver. Either Asante Samuel or Nnamdi Asomugha dropped back and played center field instead.

Now, it may seem obvious why this sounds like a flawed plan. For starters, you’re taking one of the two best coverage players in the entire NFL away from a receiver they can cover. Plus, neither player has much, if any, experience at safety. This scheme actually takes one of your top defensive assets and turns him into a liability.

Turns out that’s exactly what happened against the Falcons. Let me highlight two plays in particular.

On the first play, the Falcons had 1st and 10 in the red zone during the third quarter. Asomugha was at safety, while Page moved up to cover Tony Gonzalez in the slot. Page gives fair coverage on Gonzalez, but isn’t athletic enough to mark him perfectly. The ball comes in the seam up the middle, and Page is slightly beat. 

This is where a safety might come in handy. But Asomugha indecisively shifted over to the opposite side, where Samuel already had good coverage on his man. When Gonzalez made the catch and pushed in for the touchdown, Nnamdi was still 8 yards back in the end zone.

The Eagles played a similar scheme later in the quarter. Samuel is matched up on the outside against Roddy White, who runs the only pass route on a play action play. Asante takes the outside coverage on White’s slant, expecting safety help in the middle. But Asomugha doesn’t read the play in time. He’s still backing up when the ball reaches White for a 17 yard gain.

Maybe there are benefits to this scheme that I’m not aware of, but all the evidence from the Falcons game suggests that it’s a poor strategy. Castillo would be better off putting his best cover corners on the opponent’s top receiving options and letting them do what they do best. Then put the safeties in their normal spots, and let the opposing teams try to beat them.

Don’t overthink it.

Photo from Getty.

Eagles-Falcons Rewind: Grading the Run Defense

Michael Turner Eagles Run Defense

Over the last few weeks, I’ve talked a lot about linebacker and my concerns about the position that appears to be the Eagles biggest Super Bowl hurdle. So last night I went back and re-watched the Falcons loss, focusing only on the run defense to try to see what was going on there.

I counted 23 Atlanta rushes. 15 of those came against the base Eagles defense, with Jamar Chaney, Casey Matthews, and Moise Fokou at linebacker. 7 came against the nickel, with only Chaney and Matthews playing, including the final 6 runs of the game. 1 play, at the goal line, involved 6 defensive linemen and four linebackers with the addition of Keenan Clayton.

Of those plays, 7 involved a defensive line stop or, often, tackle for a loss. Trent Cole, as everyone noticed live, absolutely manhandled Falcons left tackle Sam Baker. But the defensive line certainly didn’t bottle up everything. There were big holes at times and Atlanta utilized trap blocks and counters heavily to exploit them.

Of the 16 plays that got to the linebacker level, I gave the group a generous 8 stops. On this half, most were solid plays by Matthews or Chaney. They refused to get sucked in on movement and worked their way out of traffic or blocks from the Falcons offensive linemen. Don’t think I charted one good play of run defense from Fokou.

And the other half? Those were very poor showings by the linebackers. Sometimes they were too anxious to rush up the field or engage with blockers instead of staying in their lanes. Other times they were on their heels, thinking too much and not reacting. 

I don’t have the stats to compare this (if anyone does please let me know), but having one third or more of all runs make it to the third level doesn’t look pretty for the defense. Now, the secondary could certainly do a better job on run defense as well. Turner’s 61-yard run was particularly damning for Kurt Coleman (awful angle), Jarrad Page (hesitation & stumble), and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (Asante-itis).

Still, it’s hard for me to speak positively about the linebacker corps. They did show promise, in that they did well sometimes. But inconsistent would be an understatement. The only change I’d make to my aforementioned suggestion would be to replace Fokou before Matthews, since the third-year player looks even more hopeless than his rookie counterpart. Perhaps another 7th-round pick, Brian Rolle, would be better, although that’s far from a sure thing.

Otherwise it’s time for a Will Witherspoon-esque pick-up or for Juan Castillo to change up the scheme. Something’s gotta give.

Photo from Getty.