Five Big-Picture Takeaways From Eagles Week 14 Win vs Bills

Nov 22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly prior to game action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

1.) Chip Kelly-Coach is Slowly Breaking Down the Stubbornness Chip Kelly-GM

Depending on where one draws the line as far as the limitations of responsibility of an NFL head coach, it’s fairly hard to say that Chip Kelly is doing a poor job. Much more of his criticism, most of it well-deserved, stems from his duties as a personnel manager. Kelly also deals with a fair amount of unwarranted vitriol from those eager to hop on a narrative. There’s no doubt that the former college coach has had a tough time shaking the assumptions of the NFL’s old guard. All that aside, Kelly has done relatively admirable work as a head coach without any prior experience at the game’s highest level.

2015 was the first year where Chip Kelly had to find a way to balance the two primary elements of pursuing greatness in the NFL. Kelly had managed 20 wins as the coach of a team put together with a different vision in mind. From his point of view, Chip could not achieve what he wanted without having more control in the personnel department. His power play following 2014 set the wheels in motion for perhaps the most tumultuous offseason in Eagles history. Kelly was pulling the strings of every transaction that took place as he tried to make over a roster on the fly.

When one is the integral cog in the types of agreements made between players and the organizations they decide to commit to, he must factor in new variables when it comes to making decisions over the course of a season. No one knows what types of conversations took place between Kelly and DeMarco Murray that landed the former Cowboy in Philadelphia. The same goes for any sort of discussion with Kelly and Miles Austin before he agreed to a perplexing contract that cost the Eagles over $2 million in cap space when they released the veteran receiver. Chip Kelly, arguably to a fault, is staunch in his beliefs as a coach. The same likely goes for him as a general manager.

Having taken over the reins as de-facto general manager, Kelly must constantly keep in mind that the decisions he makes could affect future clients when it comes to negotiating down the road. For a while, it seemed like Kelly’s stubbornness had started to seep over into finding a way to prove all of his offseason moves were smart decisions. It may have taken too long, but Kelly appears to have recognized the error of his ways. The snaps over the last couple of weeks seem much more merit-based and it seems as if the players are responding. Adult NFL players know the game well enough to recognize when they are and are not being put in a position to win. Chip Kelly is likely seeing the same thing as of late and could be a promising sign going forward should he continue to hold down personnel responsibilities.