The Eagles’ Struggle

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In the beginning of the season the Philadelphia Eagles were a Super Bowl favorite, but being in second place behind the Redskins in their division with a three way tie record of 5 wins and 7 losses sure defeated those odds. Head coach Chip Kelly is under some serious heat for supposedly meeting with the University of Southern California Trojans for a coaching job after losing 45-14 to the Lions on Thanksgiving day. Kelly later confirmed his commitment to the Eagles and denies any talk of meeting with USC. Connor Orr interviewed Ian Rapoport, an NFL insider, and he had some insight to share about the Eagles situation.

My understanding is that after the ugly loss to the Lions in front of the entire country, Chip Kelly was despondent, frustrated and feeling the heat for the first time, aware it seems that his job status may actually be in doubt after grabbing all the power this past offseason. That said, he seems intent on fixing this issue, understands that his back is against the wall and is looking at making some possible changes with a little mini break after the Thanksgiving day game,” says Rapoport. “But at the end of the season he is gonna face a decision,” Rapoport continued. “It seems it is a little bit of a longshot for it to come from another NFL team, but USC still maintains interest in Chip Kelly. It seems like they will at least touch base with him after the season. He is gonna have to make a call on what his future holds after this season with the Eagles ends.”

Even though the team is struggling to find wins, their win against New England this past Monday night was a real confidence booster for Chip Kelly and the team.

“It takes those things to win in this stadium,” Kelly said, “against that coach and that quarterback.”

Though Kelly’s record last year as Eagles head coach was 10-6 and this season could just merely be a bad one, Philly fans and some of the players want Kelly gone or want him to change up his offensive approach. Eagles running back and star off-season acquisition Demarco Murray complained to Eagles owner Jeff Lurie about his playing time on Monday against the Patriots after only playing 14 plays with 8 carries for 24 yards. Here is what Kelly responded with.

“We have to do what’s the best thing for the Philadelphia Eagles,” Kelly said. “We are not trying to win a rushing championship, or a passing championship or a receiving championship or anything in that stretch of the imagination. We’re going to do whatever we can do to win football games.”

Kelly was assertive and fiery after the win against the Patriots because he knew what his team could do and how they can play if they really wanted. Again, Kelly was god like in Philly last season after clinching their division but losing to the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round. People are still wondering, where will Chip be next year?

“I think it could come down to whether owner Jeffrey Lurie takes away the GM title. But that is not his style. People forget Kelly went 10-6 his first two seasons, so it has not been a complete disaster in Philly during his time there,” said USA Today sports insider Chris D’amico. “So I say he gives it at least one more season, and we will see what he has learned about being a GM. Note to Chip: Don’t ignore the offensive line again.”