August 23, 2015
Somewhere in the middle of the Eagles’ 40-17 demolition of the Baltimore Ravens, our esteemed football writer summed up my thoughts pretty well on Twitter:
Sooooo... preseason and whatnot, but the Eagles look pretty good.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) August 22, 2015
In the following days, you might read or hear someone allude to the Dallas Cowboys going 0-4 in the last year’s preseason and/or the Detroit Lions having a perfect exhibition record before proceeding to lose all 16 of the games that mattered in 2008. The preseason has absolutely produced results that look goofy in hindsight.
Still, it’s pretty difficult to paint what the Eagles have done — And just for the record, that is destroy two AFC contenders in every phase up and down the roster — in any sort of negative light. Preseason doesn’t matter from a results standpoint, as the Eagles’ 2-0 record assuredly is meaningless. But the level that they’re executing at is pretty hard to argue.
Know who isn’t arguing? Most national football writers. We’ll just go rapid fire for today’s links. First up is the crew over at NFL.com, who echoed my thoughts:
As Chip Kelly continues to build the Philadelphia Eagles' roster in his vision, the team looks better and better. Having everyone buy in is not a revolutionary concept, but what Kelly is doing in Philadelphia is revolutionary in terms of size, speed, height and weight requirements, as well as the way he directs all of it schematically.
The preseason often sends us false flags and there's a chance Kelly's team is just that. The injury potential is high, as is the chance that Kelly's team is simply better conditioned than other clubs at this point in the season. There's always the chance that Bradford is simply not as good as we think he is.
But there has to be something to the fact that -- regardless of who is playing quarterback -- Kelly is finding ways to exploit mismatches on offense. On defense, especially up front, the Eagles look like a bully.
Next up is CBS Sports’ Will Brinson, who was impressed by the Birds’ revamped running game:
Murray, making his debut, and Mathews, once again, looked like a perfect fit for Kelly's offense. The offensive line blocked well but you can see such a massive difference in what these guys bring to the running game with the north-south action that LeSean McCoy and the Eagles lacked at times last year.
It's not a goal to blame Shady, because the offensive line was banged up in 2014 too. But Murray and Mathews could really take this thing to the next level. Add in Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor, both of whom excel at route running, and it's very possible the Eagles explode to new heights in 2015.
Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke thought Sam Bradford’s mere presence was a huge bonus:
This offense is designed to work with any quarterback calling the shots, but the sky is the limit if Kelly finds the right quarterback. He sees Bradford as the difference-maker.
In order to live up to that billing, Bradford has to tiptoe through a full season for the first time since 2012 and for just the third time in his now six-year career. Philadelphia will be stuck with some combination of Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow if he cannot. And while there were reports earlier this month that he might receive a contract extension, Bradford currently would be a free agent after the 2015 season—meaning he has millions of reasons to pray for good health.
ESPN’s Phil Sheridan, who is also a local guy, was writing about the Eagles’ new special teams ace and an example of #DuckBias gone right:
The Eagles made a lot of noise by jettisoning LeSean McCoy and signing free agents DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews to replace him. But it is Kenjon Barner, an Oregon product who was on the practice squad last year, who is having the great preseason. Barner returned a punt for a touchdown for the second game in a row. This time it was a 68-yard sprint through the Ravens’ special teams unit.
Yahoo Sports’ Eric Edholm was more lukewarm on Bradford’s debut:
Generally, Bradford looked OK. He threw with decent rhythm but also misfired high on his two incompletions and even a few of his completed passes. Bradford also laced a nice pass on third down to Jordan Matthews, who has been having a tremendous camp.
There was some rust, sure, but Bradford came out in one piece and hit a few confidence-building passes for an offense that could be explosive — and one that flashed early, even after Bradford came out of the game.
Was it enough to fire up Eagles fans who are expecting a lot from this Chip Kelly offense? No, but it was a good — and most important, a healthy — debut for Bradford.
1. Jimmy’s 10 Awards: Terrell Suggs is a clown, Nelson Agholor’s mistakes are a bit worrisome, and most importantly, Kip Smith is redefining the kicking game.
2. Tebow vs. Barkley, Round 2: There is a GIF of Tim Tebow in this post that is frankly terrifying.
3. Oklahoma East: Former college roommates Bradford and DeMarco Murray pass their first test in midnight green.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
