Welcome to the Chip Kelly Era. Have you caught your breath yet?
The experts snickered when the Eagles plucked Kelly from Oregon and invited him to unleash his frenetic, hyper pace of play on the NFL. Judging by my pick in Saturday's Dreaded Eagles Pick, I might have been one of them.
They're not snickering anymore.
What Kelly and the Eagles did in the first half last night in front of a national television audience has never been done before. The Eagles ran 30 plays in the first 15 minutes as they bolted out of the gate en route to a 33-27 win over the Redskins on Monday Night Football.
"I've never been part of anything like it," said quarterback Michael Vick of the Eagles assault.
He's not the only one. The Redskins were left sucking wind and searching for answers under the non-stop Birds' barrage.
Take away a bad call by a referee on the Eagles opening drive on a pass that was ruled a fumble and returned for a TD by the Washington and it would have looked even worse.
In the first nine minutes of the game, the Eagles ran 23 offensive plays to the Redskins four.
Here's beat writer Bob Grotz's take on the opener.
Columnist Jack McCaffery was impressed.
So was I. I didn't see this coming. I wasn't sure if Kelly's offense would work in the NFL. Suffice it to say I'm feeling better about it this morning.
I thought the Eagles defense was a disaster looking for a place to happen, that the Eagles would spend this season trying to outscore their opponents. They were en eye-opening surprise Monday night.
But I'm sure a lot of defensive coordinators are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to slow down this Eagles express.
One thing kept going through my head over and over again as I watched last night's game. Andy Reid doesn't coach here anymore.
Could there be any more clear distinction between Kelly and his predecessor, who by the way did win his opener fairly convincingly with the Chiefs on Sunday.
There was no indecision. No wasted timeouts. No confusion.
And no injury report or time's yours after the game.
The Chip Kelly Era officially arrived Monday night.
In a hurry.
Comments