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Eagles' slow starts are a disturbing trend
By Mike Batista
Maybe Chip Kelly needs to work on his pre-game speeches.
Or if the Eagles are one of those teams that scripts its first 15 or so plays, maybe Kelly needs to re-evaluate the plays they’re running.
One way or another, Kelly needs to do a better job preparing the Eagles to take the field, because his team has a tendency to get off to slow starts in games early in the season. They got away with it last year, but not on Monday night, when they fell 26-24 in the season opener at Atlanta.
The Eagles were down 20-3 at halftime before rallying to take a 24-23 lead on Ryan Mathews’ 1-yard touchdown run with 8:37 left in the game. The Falcons answered with Matt Bryant’s 47-yard field goal to make it 26-24. Then with 2:33 left Cody Parkey missed a 44-yard field goal. The Eagles had one more chance, but Ricardo Allen intercepted a Sam Bradford pass to seal the win for the Falcons.
Had the Eagles not dug themselves such a big hole, they could have taken a comfortable lead in the second half and the game wouldn’t have gone down to the wire.
This is nothing new.
In last year’s season opener, the Eagles trailed the visiting Jaguars 17-0 at halftime. They recovered to defeat the eventual 3-13 Jags 34-17. The following week, the Eagles trailed 17-6 at halftime in Indianapolis and saw the deficit swell to 20-6 before coming back to win 30-27. The Eagles were back home in Week 3 and trailed the Redskins 17-7 in the second quarter but eventually won 34-27.
In 2013, Kelly’s first season, the Eagles made the playoffs. But they started 1-3.
That 2013 team was Kelly’s most disciplined in terms of penalties. The Eagles committed 5.8 per game. Last season, they were flagged 7.2 times per game, 22nd in the league according to Team Rankings. On Monday, they committed 10 penalties.
Kelly might seem like a mad scientist when it comes to player moves, but some of them looked pretty good Monday night.
Linebacker Kiko Alonso, who came to the Eagles in the LeSean McCoy trade, made an Odell Beckham-like interception in the end zone in the first half. The Falcons really could have run away with the game if it weren’t for that play.
The running back tandem of DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews accounted for all three of the Eagles’ touchdowns. They combined for just 13 rushing yards because the Eagles had to air the ball out after falling behind so early.
The Eagles need to learn their lesson. Playing from behind and committing penalties is no way to win games, and all of Kelly’s moves will look silly if the Eagles don’t make the playoffs.
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