Five Big-Picture Takeaways From Eagles Week 5 Win Vs. Saints

4.) Chip Kelly Is Capable of Coaching an NFL-Style Game

Oct 11, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly runs off the field at halftime against the New Orleans Saints at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles won 39-17. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

So few games, for better or worse, during the Chip Kelly era have resembled what takes place on the gridiron in most instances. So many of Kelly’s wins have featured offensive explosions followed by nail-biting bleeding of the clock. Several of his losses look as if the opponent got a sneak-peek of Kelly’s gameplan and the Eagles appear to not have a chance from the opening kick. Winning a Chip Kelly-coached game seems to take some getting used to.

Sunday’s game looked a lot more like what most games around the league look like. The Eagles ran the ball from under center. They allowed the play-clock to run down to a reasonable number throughout the game, instead of just the final quarter of play. Kelly demonstrated gamesmanship in his working of the officials (and owned up to it after the game). Albeit against an inferior opponent, Sunday’s game against the Saints looked much more the part of a chess match than a game of ‘Perfection’ (‘A race to beat the clock’)

After chalking up the team’s struggles to execution for the better part of the first month of the season, Kelly shouldered more of the blame for the slow start in Thursday’s press conference. Whether or not the rumors of Kelly’s tenuous grip of the Eagles locker room is true, there was somewhat of a shift in how the coach went about his business heading into Sunday. There seemed to be a much more business-like approach to the week five win than what normally takes place when the Eagles walk off the field with a victory. They bled the clock down, diffused any comeback attempt, and followed the ‘script’ to a win much more to a tee. Almost every critic of Kelly’s has criticized his in-game management before taking shots at his offensive philosophies. Sunday indicated he may have gotten the hint.