In each of his first two seasons as Eagles head coach, Chip Kelly's teams have failed to beat the Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. At least that's what a pessimist would tell you.
An optimist would lead with the flip side of that coin: Kelly is 2-0 when the Eagles travel to Dallas to face their NFC East rivals.
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On Sunday, the Eagles will host the Cowboys in their home opener after falling to the Falcons, 26-24, in Week 1. Dallas is 1-0 -- and the only team in the division with a winning record -- after a comeback win over the Giants on Sunday night.
If there was ever a time for Chip to get his first home win over Dallas, this is it. And while Birds vs. 'Boys means something to the fans, the Eagles coach is treating it just like any other game.
"Well, we've been here going into year three, they’ve beat us on our field and we’ve beat them on their field," Kelly said Wednesday. "So we hope we can change that because we're playing on our field this time. We haven't talked about, you know -- I mean, every game is a must-win, so it's not added motivation [like], ‘Hey, we're at home, we've got to play harder.’ It's, 'We've got to go out and play a really good Dallas team.' Whether it would be in Dallas or here, we've got to play a good football game."
Kelly still expects a potent Cowboys offense, despite the fact that they will be without their leading rusher and leading receiver from a year ago. Running back DeMarco Murray, who not only led Dallas, but the entire NFL, in rushing yards last season, will be lining up against his former team for the first time since signing with the Eagles this offseason.
On the outside, they'll be without wide receiver Dez Bryant, who broke a bone in his foot on Sunday. But according to Kelly, they still have their most dangerous weapon, quarterback Tony Romo.
"Obviously [Dez Bryant is] as talented of a receiver as there is in the league," Kelly said. "Anytime you lose a player like that it's difficult. But saying that, it's not like they don't have other weapons. They have [Cowboys TE] Jason Witten and [Cowboys WR] Cole Beasley and [Cowboys WR] Terrance Williams and one of the better -- the way he's playing now, one of the best quarterbacks in the league running the show.
"So if you're going to lose a player because of Dez, what a dynamic football player he is, but it's not like there's a huge discrepancy and they don't have other people in there. We expect them to operate -- the key to that offense is the quarterback and he's playing at a really high level right now."
That's high praise from the Eagles coach, who was later asked to expand on what he thinks makes Romo so dangerous. Here's what he had to say:
"I think the one thing about Tony, aside from having the skill to make all the throws, is he's just so intelligent. Very rarely are they in a bad play. A lot of times he's using the whole play clock, he's changing protections, he's changing runs, doing a lot of different things there because he has so much experience there and he's been around so long. He's just so smart at playing the position, very rarely does he get caught in a bad play."
• • • LEFTOVER CHIPs • • •
Here's the rest of Kelly's Wednesday session with the media:
How does the Cowboys running game look without RB DeMarco Murray?
They’re similar plays. They're still trying to run stretch and get up on the linebackers and get the ball to the perimeter. The scheme hasn't changed. They've just used multiple running backs with [Cowboys RB Joseph] Randle and [Cowboys RB Darren] McFadden and with [Cowboys RB Lance] Dunbar.
The narrative then of anybody can run behind that Cowboys offensive line -- does that hold up when you look at the film?
I'm not into narratives. They had a good running game against the Giants.
C/G David Molk, what happened to him?
He tore his biceps tendon on a field goal or extra point, whichever one. I'm not sure exactly which one it was on, but I think it was the last one. He tore his biceps tendon. So it's a three to four month recovery so he's been put on IR and [G/C] Julian Vandervelde has been brought back.
Julian and G Josh Andrews, who would be most likely the backup center?
We'll let the week go out. Julian just got back, so we'll see how it plays out. We'll see how we handle it here through our training sessions.
How do you balance it in the running game with backs needing to get carries to get into a rhythm and also if it's not working and other stuff is working, just going with the other stuff?
I think you're always trying to get what moves the offense, you know, and there are going to be times when we run the ball 60 times and there are going to be times when we have to pass the ball 60 times. It's how the game expresses itself in where you are. You don't know if you're going to be up 20-3 or down 20-3. I think a lot of that is you've got to let the game play itself out so that's always been our approach.
The things that Atlanta had success with on defense, clogging the middle a little bit, keeping you underneath, is that a template that also matches up to what Dallas is good at? Where are their strengths defensively?
Dallas has a very good defensive line and they do a good job of mixing and matching both man and zone on the back end of it. And then obviously I think it's a little bit different look now with [Cowboys LB] Sean Lee back at linebacker who played really, really well against us two years ago, can really run and play sideline to sideline who wasn't there last year so they've got a little bit different defense than Atlanta, but really talented at all three levels.
Does Lee look the same as he did two years ago? He looks healthy and ready?
Unfortunately, yes. (Joking)
How is the team health-wise?
Besides Molk, everybody should be out there. Except for [WR Seyi Ajirotutu] Tutu's going through concussion protocol.
You had mentioned yesterday about the guard play. What did you think of how the tackles played on the outside?
We got beat on a twist once and I just think it was a pass-off deal. But those guys did a decent job in the opening game, both [T] Lane [Johnson] and [T Jason Peters] J.P.
Is LB Marcus Smith practicing full today?
Marcus Smith is, yes. They said he's going to go full, we'll see how long that goes, but that's what I anticipate.
What level of control do quarterbacks have in terms of audibling at the line?
Depends on the play but they can change things. Our protections change all the time but it's a combination of the center and the quarterback. The quarterback can trump the center, the center can trump the quarterback. Just depends on how we're doing it. There's certain looks where we're changing things in the running game, too. There's either-ors in there, just depends on how the play call goes in.
I guess if you're running tempo, it’s more difficult?
No, we can still change things in tempo too.
Did the Falcons just dominate the offensive line when it came to the running plays or did they seem to have a pretty good fix on what you were doing out of certain formations?
No, I think part of it was we got away from it. We called a ton of passes in the second half but you're down 20-3 so it's a three-score game at that point in time and you're trying to get back into the game. We also felt our matchups inside, whether it be our tight end, our running back or our inside receivers were a really good way for us to move the football. To us, running the ball or throwing the ball, it doesn't matter, we're equal opportunity ball movers. So you want to give us an opportunity to throw the ball in front of you and we can get the ball, then we've still got it in [RB] Darren's [Sproles] hands and run after the catch. A lot of those times where our back came out of the backfield, that's just, to us, we equate that to that's a long handoff. You get the ball to the back in the flat and he turns it up the field for a gain of 10, that's still the same concept to us.
So they didn't have like an extra guy in the box to defend the run?
No. They played the same defense that they always play, two inside linebackers, a strong safety and a nickel guy.
When they stopped the third-and-1 play when they came in unblocked --
We should have zoned the whole thing across the front. We were manning a little bit, we should have been in a full zone.
Chip, we see this a lot in the NFL when a player goes to another team like DeMarco Murray, there is the human element of it. How do you monitor it, manage it in a situation like this and a game like this?
I think it just depends on the player. I think DeMarco's a very grounded individual. He's pretty consistent in his approach every day that he's here. He's not an up-and-down guy. I think sometimes it just depends on the individual but he's been fine. We'll monitor him just like we monitor all our players this week, but I haven't seen any change in him because it's Dallas week and he played for Dallas.
The pass-run distribution aside, Murray played 45 percent of the snaps. Do you want him on the field more or is that par for the course?
Depends on how the game gets expressed.
And it was because of the matchup with Sproles that --
There were some interesting things that Darren brought to us in that game.
With Tutu out, what's that do to you special teams wise?
He's just out today. I don't know, he could be back tomorrow. Again, we'll address it like we normally do at the end of the week. Everybody will get reps but if he's out, then we'll make a decision later in the week.
Who replaced him during the game?
At gunner I think it was [WR Josh] Huff and [DB Eric] Rowe at that point in time. We were rotating four gunners, we had Huff, Rowe, [CB E.J.] Biggers and Tutu. So it was one of those. I don't know if we punted after that.
With S Malcolm Jenkins jumping down to the slot against Atlanta, S Chris Maragos coming in to play the safety spot, is that a formation you're happy with?
I thought Malcolm did a really nice job and Chris did a really nice job. But again, a lot of it was because of what Atlanta did. A lot of times [Falcons WR] Julio [Jones] ended up in the slot. We wanted a bigger, physical guy in there. So it can change this week depending on how we think -- and is Dallas going to change with Dez being out? Are they going to move some of their guys around?
Now that Rowe's not one of the top five defensive backs there, do you cross train in terms of corner-safety ability?
That was a game plan for Atlanta. To say he's not one of our top five defensive backs --
I was asking based on the game against Atlanta.
Yeah, we'll have a different game plan this week. We cross train everybody once we get into the season.
In relation to Dez, how does a player like that leaving the equation change the math for you guys?
Change the what?
Change the math.
I think they still have 11, so I would say it doesn't change the math much. They're still going to have a guy that takes his spot, so I don't think -- the difficult thing with playing them is that they have other weapons so it was -- you're worried about Dez but you're worried about Witten but you're worried about Beasley. You have to be worried about Terrence Williams also. I don't know how much it changes the math in terms of how they're going to deploy their guys and you won't know until you see what their game plan is. What are they going to do? Are they going to play with two tight ends, and is it going to be [Cowboys TE Gavin] Escobar and two receivers most of the game? So you can't sit there and say, ‘Well, Dez is out, they're going to do this,’ because we don't dictate what they do, we have to react to what they do. So is it a second tight end? Escobar's another really good football player. Are we going to see more 12 [personnel] than we planned on seeing? So we still have to plan on 11, 21, 12 in terms of playing these guys and see what their game plan is, see how the game starts to express itself. That's the one thing with their depth that can make it difficult for you. It's not just Dez is out, the other receiver comes in the game. They don't have to do that. They can move Beasley outside or they can play with Terrance Williams still and just play with two tight ends and that becomes a different game for us in that aspect.
Did you see the Giants change the way they played in game because Dez wasn't in there anymore?
No, I didn't.
Are you saying that who you use a nickel could change in the game-to-game based on who you're playing, how the game plan goes?
Exactly.
So it's not necessarily going to be Malcolm against Dallas?
Exactly.
And what kind of factors would go into --
How they're playing it, what are they doing and who is that guy? Is it Escobar, is it Beasley? Depending on how they're deploying their guys really will dictate how we deploy our guys.
So then Rowe, for example --
Could be in the mix, yes.
So which is better, is it better for them to have Dez and you know how to prepare or not have Dez and you don't know how to prepare?
I'd say the latter. He's really good. Put a little bit more on the coaches and a little bit less on covering Dez, I think we'd opt for that. We can figure out what they send in the game because we get a chance to match it. We just know he won't be playing.
Yesterday, you talked a little bit about technique and I know that's what defensive backs coach Cory Undlin has been talking since he came here. Was it alarming to have technique problems in the secondary?
No, I think you have technique problems everywhere in game one. It's something you have to constantly work at. We had technique problems on the perimeter blocking, we had technique problems up front, we had technique problems I think at every position. I think every team's the same. It's not just, ‘Hey, we covered that in camp, we're good to go.’ It's an ongoing process of honing your fundamentals.
LB Kiko Alonso’s ability to cover tight ends, do you like the matchup of him against people like Witten?
Yeah. Well, anybody matched up with Witten is going to be a handful just because of how talented he is, but one of the things about Kiko is he's a true three down linebacker like [LB] Mychal [Kendricks]. And the fact that when we're in our nickel right now, we can leave two linebackers on the field because of how athletic those two guys are has really been a big help for us. Last year, we featured a little bit more dime. This year we haven't run as much dime right now just because of what Kiko and Mychal can do. They both have the ability to run and they've both got some size to them so they're not going to get bounced around in there.
What has DE Taylor Hart done to earn dressing on Sundays?
He's played really well for us and the best players play. We thought he played well for us against Atlanta and I think he's just, he's gotten stronger, he's getting more technical. You see him coming and developing as a player. He had a really good preseason for us.