The Philadelphia Eagles' season is not getting off on the foot that everyone expected as questions about the player personnel come into focus. Head coach Chip Kelly made a lot of moves in the offseason including letting go of Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy, Evan Mathis and Jeremy Maclin. Now he is left to defend the new additions to the team as the Eagles continue their slow start on the season.
After losing to both the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys fashion, doubts are rising about the players on the field. Sam Bradford looks lost in the offense. DeMarco Murray was non-existent in Week 2. Jordan Matthews is struggling with dropped passes. Some wonder if changes should be made, but Kelly is defending the starters and will stick with them in Week 3.
The guys we have are the guys we're playing with for the remainder of the season," Kelly said, via ESPN.com. "It's not a change thing. It's about putting in a game plan that will be effective against the Jets. That's what our focus is on. The personnel is good enough. The execution isn't. ... We're not putting together a plan that's good enough for us to execute offensively. Because we're not executing it. That falls on the coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball."
Bradford's play came under fire in Week 2 leaving some to call for Mark Sanchez to see the field. The chances of that happening are slim to none. Kelly plans on sticking with the quarterback and is hopeful an improved run game does the trick to help Bradford out. The run game is the team's biggest issues. A rotation of Murray, Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles should be producing more than seven yards in a game while also having more than 17 carries combined. Kelly noted that the offensive line must do a better job of helping out.
"In my most situations, I don't put the blame on the running back because there was too much penetration," Kelly said, via ESPN.com. "There were a few times where there were some things blocked up and we could have hit it a little bit better. But by and large, we didn't block it very well."
The Eagles will face the New York Jets in the upcoming week which has another tough defensive front. The Jets forced Andrew Luck into several mistakes on Monday night football and will be eyeing to repeat the success against the Eagles. With Muhammad Wilkerson and Leonard Williams working in tandem, Bradford and the offensive line must do some major improving if they want to get their first win of the season.