Eagles Offense

EAGLES: As Bradford sits, race for No. 3 QB job between Barkley, Tebow heats up

http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/sports/columnists/eagles-as-bradford-sits-race-for-no-qb-job-between/article_be1f2012-ac06-5fc7-9780-76c9069f8cfe.html

PHILADELPHIA — The quarterback derby looked like a one-horse race for most of the first two weeks of Eagles training camp.

It was Sam Bradford alone in the stretch. Mark Sanchez was a few lengths back and even further back were Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow.

Bradford, however, was pulled up before he could reach the finish line when head coach Chip Kelly tugged on the reins and announced on Friday that Bradford will sit out the team’s preseason opener Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts at Lincoln Financial Field.

It almost sounded like a knee-jerk reaction to keep Bradford and his twice-surgically repaired left knee on the sidelines, with the coach saying that he went back and forth with the decision. He added that it was influenced by the dislocated ankle Washington receiver Niles Paul suffered the night before in Washington’s exhibition opener while also mentioning that Bradford had just two weeks of practice without any limitations, something he did not have in the spring.

Kelly said that Bradford will get some good work in against an opposing defense when the Baltimore Ravens come to town for three days starting Wednesday to train with the Birds as they prepare together for their game against each other Saturday night at the Linc.

Greg Cosell’s Playoff Preview: Chip Kelly’s offensive innovation is all in the presentation

By Greg Cosell
January 4, 2014

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/greg-cosell-playoff-preview-chip-kelly-offensive-innovation-160316361–nfl.html

I like the Eagles’ offense and enjoy watching it on film – the offense really features a ton of misdirection and deceptions. The Eagles create conflicts for defense and space for running backs and receivers. That’s what they do in a nutshell.

And they’re so good at doing those things.

I think what Eagles coach Chip Kelly does is all in the presentation. If you watch right after the snap, you see a large majority of tactics everyone does. The route combinations are NFL combinations, the running game is a zone game for the most part, like a lot of NFL teams. When ball is snapped, he’s doing mostly what everyone else does. Before the snap, it’s formations, it’s motions, it’s very simple, subtle things you probably wouldn’t notice when you’re watching a game. I don’t always notice them watching the game the first time, then I watch the games on film and I see them. Keep an eye out for it when the Eagles play the Saints on Saturday night.

I’ll give you an example, and it came on a 20-yard run by LeSean McCoy in the first quarter against the Cowboys last week. Receiver Jason Avant motioned into the formation. Seems like nothing – take a slot receiver into the formation. Seems like everyone does that, no big deal. But what happened is, when you do that, you end up creating another gap for the defense to account for. And you have defenders outside of those gaps, so when you have an inside run, there aren’t enough defenders. Then the Eagles snapped the ball as soon as Avant got to the formation.

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It’s simple stuff like that, and it gets a 20-yard run.

Again, it’s all in the presentation. He’s great using formations and motion and spreading field horizontally. He makes the defense defend the whole field. There’s a lot of space for the opponent to cover.

In the passing game, it’s funny because you don’t see Nick Foles make a number of difficult throws. We talk about NFL quarterbacks making stick throws into a tight window, and how that is a necessity. You don’t see that a lot with Foles. He throws to a lot of open receivers. Kelly breaks defenses down really well with his routes and spreading the field. There are route combinations everyone runs, he just gets to them in a different way. Again, he creates conflict for defense and space for his offense to work.

I don’t know if this has been drilled into Foles by Kelly, but Foles is a safe quarterback. If he doesn’t feel it’s there or it’s not in the play design, he doesn’t throw it. He’s a primary read quarterback – and my interpretation is that’s what Kelly wants.

Kelly’s concepts are sound. And the speed/tempo element adds a lot. When you think of no-huddle offenses, people think of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. They get to the line of scrimmage and take some time to and research the defense. The Eagles don’t research the defense, they get up to the line and snap the ball. It’s hard to play defense against that. Opponents just have to make sure they get lined up, and they have to play every basic. The Eagles don’t face a lot of the defensive multiplicity, and that’s an interesting element in the playoff game against the Saints.

Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is very good at what we call “designer blitzes.” He comes up with some for each opponent. But it’s hard to be complex against the Eagles. And you can’t substitute. This particular player may be critical to this specific blitz for the Saints, but you might not be able to get him in the game. That doesn’t mean the Saints won’t blitz at all, but sometimes it’s limited against speed/tempo offenses like the Eagles