Redskins: Will Chip Kelly’s roster moves backfire Vs Skins?
Sep 21, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson (11) runs past Philadelphia Eagles strong safety Nate Allen (29) on an 81-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles defeated the Redskins, 37-34. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Redskins: Will Chip Kelly’s roster moves backfire Vs Skins?
Last season the Philadelphia Eagles offense was ranked 5th in the league. In 2013 it was ranked number two. However, this season the Eagles offense is ranked 31st in the NFL after three games. Is it that teams have caught up to the uptempo, spread attack or could it be a lack of talent?
When Chip Kelly was running his offense with Andy Reid’s players, his offense was among the best in the league but now that he’s brought in the players he’s wanted and gotten rid of the ones he didn’t it seems Kelly’s offense is no longer quite as potent as it once was.
He basically threw away wide receiver DeSean Jackson after he put up his best season in 2013 and helped the Eagles win the NFC East that year. After rumors of gang affiliations sprang up, Kelly moved quickly to release Jackson, saying it wasn’t a good fit.
Then during this offseason Kelly traded running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonzo, he also trade quarterback Nick Foles and a second round pick to the Rams for Sam Bradford. Then he let wide receiver Jeremy Maclin walk in free agency.
That’s the kind of talent right there that some coaches would kill to have but it seems Chip Kelly thinks his offensive system is good enough to just plug and play. While there’s no doubt that the Eagles couldn’t have afforded to keep all of those players, surely they could have kept at least two.
Sam Bradford hasn’t been very good after coming back from two disastrous knee injuries and it seems like running back DeMarco Murray was not really suited to Kelly’s system. But Kelly signed him anyway, even though he had already signed Ryan Mathews and had Darren Sproles on the roster.
Murray is a great player but his signing by the Eagles was probably nothing more than just a splash move after the tremendous backlash Kelly received after trading McCoy. DeSean Jackson may not play against the Eagles, so Kelly may be spared another big-time performance against his former player.
Is it possible that with new players in the lineup the Eagles offense just needs more time to gel? Yes it’s possible. It’s also possible that the Eagles offense could explode against the Redskins defense on Sunday as we’ve seen them do in the past and DeMarco Murray has had recent success against the Redskins from his days as a Dallas Cowboy.
But the Redskins defense is pretty good this year (ranked 2nd in the league), so I doubt the Eagles will put up huge numbers against them. However, if the Eagles continue to win, how potent their offense is won’t really matter much.
But if they lose to the Redskins, a team the Eagles were supposed to be significantly better than this year. then questions will continue to haunt Chip Kelly about the controversial personnel moves he’s made and how instead of making his team better, they just might have made it worse.
Next: NFL Power Rankings: Where do Redskins and Eagles rank?