August 18, 2015
This offseason, the NFL considered three proposals -- one from the league's Competition Committee, one from the Patriots, and one from the Eagles -- to change the rules surrounding extra-points. All three sought to have the ball moved from the two-yard line back to the fifteen, making it closer to a 33-yard field goal.
One proposal, the Eagles' proposal, also wanted the two-point conversion attempt moved up to the one-yard line. The NFL didn't chose this one, instead opting for the one drawn up by the Competition Committee.
According to Chip Kelly, the added distance on the kick alone is not enough to change his philosophy on going for two. Not even in the preseason. Not even with Tim Tebow on his roster.
In the spring, when the rule change was first approved, Kelly said as much. And he stood by that statement on Tuesday, which is somewhat strange; they seem like one of the more obvious teams to try for two, especially with their re-tooled backfield. If you can convert at a rate of 50 percent or more -- teams were 6-for-12 in Week 1 of the preseason -- you'll come out ahead. Furthermore, these games don't count. Isn't this the best time to see how your team performs in those situations? It would, at the very least, be a way to gauge what Tebow can offer in goal-line packages.
So why not try it out?
"Because they didn't move the ball up," Kelly said when asked why he doesn't plan on trying more two-point conversions in the preseason. "I don't think there is anything to entice us. The ball has been on the 2‑yard line for the longest time. Just look at the statistics on trying to get a two‑point play. If they wanted to encourage us to go for two, then they should have moved where we were going from two from, but it's always been [at the 2-yard line]."
And even after watching Pro Bowler Cody Parkey, who was 14-of-16 on kicks of 30-39 yards in his rookie season, miss an extra point against the Colts, he's standing firm.
On average, the conversion rate for extra points in the NFL has been near 100 percent. Last year, there were just eight missed the whole season across the entire league. For field goals of 30-39 yards, the league average dropped to 90.1 percent in 2014, meaning you'd break even by converting just 45 percent of your two-point attempts.
This preseason, teams are converting the longer extra point at an even higher rate; they are 54-of-56 (96.4 percent) on the 33-yarders, less than a three percent drop from last season (99.3 percent). But that number will likely decrease over time and trend back toward the 90 percent number we saw last year, especially once the regular season arrives -- and the colder weather follows.
So far, that's not enough of a drop off to sway the Eagles coach.
"Three percent. I'm not hanging my hat on three percent," Kelly said. "It's three percent on extra points and it drops down to under 50 percent on two‑point plays. So you know –"
The Eagles were one of just eight NFL teams that did not attempt a two-point try last year, despite the fact that Kelly attempted eight (three successful) in his first year as coach, more than anyone else. But teams have found slightly more success on two-point conversions this preseason -- 6-for-12 (50 percent) compared to 28-for-59 (47.5 percent) in 2014.
That's not going to change his mind either.
"I would say insufficient data," Kelly concluded. "It’s one weekend. Small sample size."
Not to be a stickler, coach, but you just used the whole "not hanging my hat on three percent" argument based on the exact same one-weekend sample...
Here are some highlights from Kelly's pre-practice session with the media:
With the Ravens, what would you like to see that you can't see when it’s just your team?
I just think it's different competition. Number one, a different offense. They will see a little bit more two‑back. We didn't see much two‑back. We got a little, just a little from the Colts, but they did it with an extra tight end in the backfield playing with a true fullback. Schematically, I think there are some different things that I think our defense is excited to get a chance to see.
I think any time you get a chance to compete against another team, when you have players like [Ravens WR] Steve Smith out there at receiver and [Ravens QB] Joe Flacco, who is one of the best in the league; that's always the great thing when we got a chance to go against the Patriots, you got to play against [Patriots QB] Tom Brady. We get a chance to go play against Flacco. You’ve got [Ravens OLB Terrell] Suggs and [OLB Elvis] Dumervil and that group on the outside linebackers and defensive line in terms of pass rush. So that will be some good matchups with our offensive line. I think the competition part of it is what we are real excited about.
Watching the tape, what did you see from QB Matt Barkley and QB Tim Tebow?
I thought both of them played well but I think on both of their occasions there's a couple missed communications where some things broke down that were not their fault. So they have to kind of make some adjustments on it. But I thought they both, when they had time, threw the ball very well, were accurate with their throws.
Matt got a little bit more throws than Timmy had in terms of just play calling but that wasn't by design. It was just kind of how the game expressed itself but I thought they both took advantage of their opportunities.
What did you see from the offensive line?
Well, you played a lot of different groupings so I think a lot of guys got an opportunity to play. I thought the first group did a decent job, especially in protection. We were pretty clean except for one play that [QB] Mark [Sanchez] ended up slipping underneath the linebacker and getting a first down actually scrambling for it. The first line did a good job of keeping the quarterback clean.
We had a little too much push in our second and third group. I thought the pocket collapsed a little bit on both [QB] Matt [Barkley] and on [QB] Timmy [Tebow] a little bit. So those are some things we have to correct. But overall, I thought the communication was good and they knew what they were doing from an assignment standpoint. There's a lot of technical things we need to continue to work on.
You talked last year about WR Josh Huff's consistency. What have you seen in camp so far to tell you he's made strides in that regard?
I think he's been very consistent in camp. Caught everything. He's done a really nice job from that standpoint. Didn't have any targets on Sunday, but that's just kind of how it expressed itself. You can't predict all the time where the ball is going depending how the coverage is in terms of when you're calling plays. But I think Josh has really matured and been really consistent really since April.
In your first two years here, WRs DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin took a lot of the snaps at wide receiver. Now you have a little more depth this year. Do you envision the snaps being spread out a little more evenly? The game dictates how you roll guys in and out, but --
We would like to, and it's the same thing -- our plan is to have more depth there so we don't have to have a guy in for 60 or 70 snaps at one position, whether it be running back or receiver. But that was kind of our thoughts, to spread it around, because we asked our guys to run so much in what we do, that you need more bodies to do it. Barring injury, that's what we are looking forward to: rotating more at the receiver spot because I think we have upgraded the bottom part of the receiver spot.
Was increasing the depth at receiver and running back a conscious decision going into this year? Was the thinking that you needed to have more guys that could be a part of the offense?
Yes, there were times when you were calling plays and thinking, ‘Who is in the game?’ The play call [may have] changed a little bit. You watch Ryan [RB Ryan Mathews], he only had two carries, but we think of Ryan as a No. 1 back, we think of DeMarco as a No. 1 back and we think of Darren [RB Darren Sproles] in that situation, too. Then at wide receiver, with the additions of Nelson [WR Nelson Agholor] and Miles, we have some guys to go along with Coop [WR Riley Cooper] and Jordan [WR Jordan Matthews] and Huff [WR Josh Huff]. Then with TuTu [WR Seyi Ajirotutu] and Maehl [WR Jeff Maehl], I think we have a lot more depth than we've had at receiver and at running back.
DT Bennie Logan had a handful of impactful plays despite only being in there for nine snaps --
He was, he was in there nine snaps and had three tackles. If we played him for 30 snaps, he would have had ‑‑ we can just extrapolate it ‑‑
Is that something that you saw coming on from Logan?
We were pleased, really pleased with him. I thought he played really, really well. His knowledge and understanding of blocking schemes now, going into year three for him, really sharp. Made some real just not only were they physical, tough plays but he knew what plays they were running based upon what was happening. He back‑doored once on a power play when the center blocked back on him and came deep around the center and made a tackle in the backfield. They tried to cut him off once when he was at nose, but the right guard couldn't get to him so he stayed flat on the center and flattened him down and then made another play in the backfield. And another one, it was a little twist game inside but again recognized the blocking scheme immediately and then came off of it. We were really pleased with him and how he played on Sunday.
When your second team defensive line comes into the game, it seems like you don’t miss a beat. Is that a tribute to the coaching of Defensive Line Coach Jerry Azzinaro?
I think it's a combination of both. There's also really good personnel. There's a lot of people that coach the same things to their ones and twos but there's a drop off because of the talent level. When you have the ability to bring [DE] Vinny [Curry] and [DT] Beau Allen and [DE] Taylor Hart and [DE] Brandon Bair in that next group, there's not a big dropoff. And that's one of the things we look for because of how tough it is to play defensive line and how much effort we ask our players to exert. It's great that you have the opportunity to spell those guys, so [DE Fletcher Cox] Fletch and [DE Cedric Thornton] Ced and Bennie can go play ten snaps and then get a rest for three or four and then those guys can come back and they end up being fresher than the guys they are lined up against because if you are an offensive tackle, Fletch is further center, Bennie is out of the game, good, here comes Beau Allen.
There's not a big dropoff, but I think because of how we rotate those guys and what we demand of them from a practice standpoint and then their individual skills really fits to what we are trying to do.
Any takeaways from the nickel position?
We actually used [DB Eric] Rowe, [DB Jaylen] Watkins and [CB] Denzel [Rice]. I think all those guys had some really good plays. Eric made a nice play on a fumble strip near our sideline. Also caused another fumble. When [S Chris] Maragos came in, they ended up ‑‑ Indianapolis ended up recovering it.
But I thought he ‑‑ for the first time in there, because he's only been there for the least amount of time -- we just moved those corners in there -- we were pleased with him, and Jaylen did some nice things in there. So it's still an ongoing process but we were pleased how the nickels played.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin
