A Dilemma with No Answer: Eagles Success Limited by QB Situation

Nov 27, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly talks with quarterback Mark Sanchez (3) on the sidelines during the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Philadelphia beat Dallas 33-10. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Eagles are an imperfect team. Luckily for them, every other team in the NFL joins them in the ranks of the flawed. There has not been a ‘perfect’ football team take the field in my lifetime and I would bet a hefty amount that is a trend that won’t change anytime soon.

What differentiates these imperfect entities is where each one’s deficiencies lie. For some, such as the Washington football team, the deficiency is at the top. Washington’s owner Dan Snyder is one of the most hated men in the country, and it has nothing to do with how he manages his team. If public opinion on Snyder was based solely on his ability to run one of the most valuable franchises in sports, he’d still be one of the most hated men in the country.

There are also those teams who are doomed by the ineptitude of their head coach. The rigors of being an NFL head coach rival that of any other professional sport. There are few who are capable of holding down the position for long enough to integrate his culture while devising a scheme that takes full advantage of his personnel AND fulfill all of the game-day responsibilities necessary to lead his team to a win.

Finally, there are the teams whose deficiencies lie in the personnel department. Whether it is as a result of poor drafting, unfortunate injuries, or misguided attempts at creating ‘buzz’ (Dream Team-2011), not having enough talent on the field seems to be the issue for most teams who do not figure to contend for a Super Bowl on a yearly basis. The Seattle Seahawks managed to find the perfect formula to maximize the amount of talent they had on the field a year ago and rolled to a championship because of it. Now, even teams like the Patriots and Broncos are spending big money to fortify rosters that seemed propped up by the fact that each team fielded one of the game’s premiere quarterbacks.

I’ve mentioned in the past that the Eagles are in a peculiar position when it comes to the NFL’s hierarchy. Though I’m sure there are those that might want to argue with me over this, I happen to think the Eagles can confidently check their first two boxes in terms of having an owner and a coach who could very well be part of a Super Bowl equation. From a personnel standpoint, considering the turnover that has had to happen given their shift in philosophy, I would argue the Eagles are much closer to being ‘Super Bowl-caliber’ if one were to take the collective talent of the team than being looked at as a middle-of-the-pack candidate. Unfortunately, given where their shortcomings DO lie, this could end up being one of the most disappointing aspects of these Eagles teams.

The Eagles are not a young, up-and-coming roster. For the most part, most of their impact players seem to be entering or already in their ‘prime’. Considering how quick rosters turn over in the NFL, one would have to figure the Eagles’ “window” is open right now for an undetermined amount of time. Even with their success in the free agent and trade market, the team’s struggles in the draft makes turning over the roster consistently when the current group starts to fade seems less likely than a team that can constantly replenish impact players with homegrown talent. Simply put, there’s no guarantee that Chip Kelly and company will be able to field a roster with as much collective talent as they do now in the future.

In week 16, the Eagles will be starting a quarterback with turnover issues, a less-than-stellar bill of health, and the type of limitations that are impossible to ignore. Whether or not that quarterback will be Mark Sanchez or Nick Foles is yet to be determined. Regardless of who takes the opening snap in Washington, however, will not change the fact that the Eagles’ biggest personnel deficiency happens to come at the most important position in sports.

In a matter of two seasons, the Eagles have managed to emerge from the lowest of lows and become a contending team in what has become a very strong NFC. Unfortunately for them, they have felt first hand what is separating them from the teams in their conference who many peg as a potential representative in this year’s Super Bowl. For how innovative and impactive Chip Kelly has been as a coach, he’s not on the field when the chips (no pun intended) are in the middle and a play has to be made.

When the Eagles win, it’s usually as a result of superior gameplan, execution, conditioning, and relentlessness. There have been games where the Eagles stun an opponent out of the gates and defend a lead all game, there have been games where they maintain their effectiveness for a full 60 minutes, and there have been those games where the opposition has failed to maintain their intensity and the explosiveness of Kelly’s attack eventually overwhelms them. Looking back on the last 30 games of regular season Eagles games, it’s hard to pick one out that one could point to the quarterback and say, ‘he stole a win for the Eagles.’ Though none of the current greats who play the position at this point would ever take the full credit for a win, that doesn’t mean it’s not often the case.

The NFL is a player’s league. Because of recruiting, that is not necessarily the case in college. Scheme and culture can translate into a higher level success at the NCAA level than they do in the pros. One could probably count on one hand the amount of NFL coaches who are better than Chip Kelly at doing the work necessary on Monday-Saturday to achieve success on Sunday. Chip has his good days and bad days as far as a game-day coach but, considering the alternatives, Kelly is gold compared to those in charge of some other NFL sidelines.

Kelly is also a good NFL coach in the sense that he NEVER throws his guys under the bus. No matter how well or poorly either Nick Foles or Mark Sanchez has performed on various stages, not once has Kelly pegged the fortunes or failures of the team on the quarterback. Contrary to Chicago offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer’s philosophy, there is nothing to be gained by a coach isolating an individual and heaping praise or criticism upon him when football is the ultimate team game.

Having said all of that, nothing changes the fact that the Eagles appear to be approaching a plateau in terms of what they can achieve under their current circumstances. Kelly can say all that he wants about how an individual doesn’t impact a unit but the fact of the matter is that the Eagles are already behind the curve in terms of how they stack up at the quarterback position and there isn’t an easy way around it.

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Though I would be the first to celebrate (quite raucously, I might add) the Eagles finding a way to draft Marcus Mariota, it’s simply not in the cards. I will maintain that pipe dream until the Heisman trophy winner holds up another team’s jersey, but I’ve accepted the fact that my love affair will eventually come to an end. The Eagles are too good to even sniff the type of position where they could execute a trade for Mariota without debilitating their future and not good enough for the conversation not to be had. Two quarterbacks have had ‘auditions’ for the Eagles this season. Nick Foles had every opportunity to perform at a level that would give the organization confidence in locking him up for the future. Even before his injury, Foles bombed his audition as he suddenly morphed into a turnover-prone, backpedaling statue who could not rekindle his 2013 spark. Mark Sanchez raised a few eyebrows with some early success, but a big enough sample size reveals that he comes up short in some of the same areas as Foles and cannot be counted on as a franchise option. Basically, in a matter of 14 games, the Eagles have fortified the notion that if a team has two quarterbacks, it really has none.

Because the quarterback position is not their only flaw, as Dez Bryant so politely pointed out Sunday night, the Eagles cannot stray away from the conventional approach to an NFL offseason. The draft must be used to select the top talent available and there shouldn’t be any reason that does not apply to the defensive secondary. The front office cannot afford to miss on draft picks the way they have since Kelly has taken over. The NFL differs from the NBA in the sense that teams that draft well from their slot, even with regular season success, are often those that achieve the highest level of success. For the past two seasons, the Eagles have been unsuccessful in doing this and, were it not for their prowess in free agency and the trade market, they could be in far worse shape then 9-5 this season.

The Eagles will be forced to take a page out of the Seahawks or 49ers book. Neither of the aforementioned NFC West teams built their success upon a blue-chip quarterback who they hitched their wagon to. Seattle and San Francisco were able to establish themselves as two of the top teams in the NFL for a few seasons by drafting well, staying the course, and acquiring a quarterback who did not cost them a chance at multiple assets. For the Seahawks, that strategy was as much a reason for their Super Bowl title than the actual play of Russell Wilson. The 49ers were yards away from a Super Bowl of their own and they did not have to give up any sort of bounty for Colin Kaepernick.

Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys showed all one had to know about the Eagles. First, their secondary is bad enough to where dedicating a collection of high draft picks would only exacerbate the situation. The second observation was far from a revelation, as it is has been the case all season. The Eagles will not be taken seriously as a Super Bowl contender, nor should they, until they have a superior talent playing the quarterback position. Nick Foles or Mark Sanchez might be enough to get them to a playoff game, but we’ve had plenty of those. It may take time, and some serious scouting, but the Eagles have met the glass ceiling that so many teams do when their quarterback is not good enough. There should be no stone left unturned this offseason. Once upon a time, the Seahawks signed Matt Flynn to an outlandish free agent contract only to draft Russell Wilson during the same offseason. The clock is already ticking for a well-constructed Eagles roster. If I were the Eagles’ front office, I would focus quite a bit of energy on trying any possible solution to the position that appears to be keeping them from achieving the ultimate goal.