Five Big-Picture Takeaways From Eagles Week 12 Loss Vs Lions

3.) There’s No One to Rally to When Things are Going Poorly

My esteemed colleague Tim Kelly made an astute observation as the Lions were drubbing the Eagles.

When things went well for the Eagles, there was no need for anyone to get in someone’s face and let them hear about it. The all-for-one mantra worked in a vacuum. Unfortunately, when things got tight for the Eagles or started going downhill, there was no one to turn toward to help stop the bleeding. Chip Kelly, the face of the franchise, is noted as being unapproachable and somewhat hands-off when it comes to interacting with his players. The fact of the matter is, when the Eagles started to allow the Dolphins to creep back into the game a few weeks ago, they needed someone to let them hear about it and get things back untracked.

The leaders of the team are all stand-up guys that are open with the media and model citizens. While that’s great to have within a roster, no one ever saw Jason Kelce or Connor Barwin pulling aside his respective unit and letting them know to ratchet things up a bit. Oddly enough it seemed as if Jordan Hicks was the player most capable of serving that role when he was in the game. It was unfair to put that onus on a rookie, but seeing where the team has gone since his injury only heightens suspicion that he was one of few players in that locker room capable of playing such a role.

Kelly made a point of adding players that would fall in line to how he preferred to go about business. Unfortunately, no one on the roster seemed capable of doing that AND serving as an emotional leader for a team that had no problem letting the opposition hang 40+ on them in back-to-back weeks. There’s no doubt the Eagles are embarrassed over their latest snafu, but it’s hard to imagine any of them feel like they let someone (other than themselves on an individual level) down. That includes Chip Kelly himself.