THIS week Cary Williams said that Chip Kelly’s conditioning system “didn’t necessarily work”. Considering that this team has run out of steam down the stretch for two straight years, (especially the Offensive and Defensive Lines), I’m thinking Cary Williams might be right about that.
You can line up with Kelly if you want, but from where I sit, it looks like Williams knows more about winning in the NFL. Williams has won a Super Bowl as a starter. In his only playoff game, Kelly failed to make any decent adjustments at home, against a dome team that was running an insultingly vanilla gameplan against their strengths. To see the playoffs and advance through them, Williams had to beat good teams repeatedly. Kelly is outcoached by +.500 teams on a regular basis.
Only one of these men has proven himself worthy of the NFL’s best.
More than that, upon our release of Williams, a team that has made a habit out of Super Bowls didn’t hesitate to snatch him up and peg him as a starter. Sorry folks, but I’d say Pete Carroll knows a bit more about what it takes to win in the NFL than Kelly does. Argue that point at your peril.
Kelly came to the NFL looking to change how some things are done, or to show that he knows a better way of doing them. So far he really hasn’t. Fact is, until he produces enviable results, his methods are largely going to be seen as quirky instead of innovative. I have yet to hear any sports pundits dismiss Kelly’s methods, but I have yet to hear anyone embrace them either.
Kelly’s conditioning system was built for players 17-21 years old, who only had to last 12 games, on a roster twice the size of an NFL roster. You can run those guys into the ground and if one or five guys can’t go, you’re drowning in depth anyway. The NFL includes guys in their mid 20’s through late 30’s, many of whom have injury histories, and depth is far more limited. Running your roster into the ground, instead of resting them… You can only push the human body so far before it stops building up and starts breaking down instead. You can get away with more of that when people are younger. (Remember being 17-21 years old?) Imagine if at your current age you had to do your work day TWICE a day, for the same money you’d make to do that same job ONCE if you worked anywhere else. Now imagine that despite all the extra work you put in, your rivals (working half as hard) reaped better results.
This is where the player’s questions come from. This is where their doubt comes from. This is where Kelly needs to step back, look at his results and at least consider, that Cary Williams might be right.
I began reading this a little ticked off as, like many, am no Cary Williams fan and I am a Chip fan, at least for now. But, it’s hard to dispute valid points like “17-21 yr olds” with less games and more depth. Add in the heat and humidity and I’m exhausted just thinking about it. Kudos Eagle.
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I wish that someone could dispute these things. I HATE not being able to believe wholeheartedly like I did from 2001 to 2012. I remember the Ray Rhodes era better than most. Most Eagles fans don’t recall that Rhodes went 10-6 in both of his first two seasons only to see the wheels come off later because despite being full of personality, he was a FUNDAMENTALLY flawed coach.
Last June when I mentioned the Eagles trading LeSean McCoy I was dismissed as an idiot and a heretic. It sucks when it takes everyone else months to see what you saw plain as day, so long ago.
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The comparison to the Rhodes era could turn out to be true. The bottom line is salaries are flying out the door faster than they are coming in. I always liked Williams . Played with an attitude. I remember Ray Lewis had to try to calm him down. That tells you something. You did call the McCoy move. I would have never guessed it.
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It was plain as day because that’s how this organization thinks.
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This is the first time Cary Williams has ever been listened to? The defense hasn’t been worth anything and if he is right, why couldn’t they make one stop in any quarter? No one else has complained but with how many time cary williams has been burnt, it can’t be his fault. Chip is trying to win with the crap he has that didn’t see a winning season in several years before he got here. Let him try and bring the players he wants and then question him. Pete Carroll did the same thing Chip did this year and all of Seattle didn’t(or maybe they did) pick apart everything he did saying if he don’t win it all this time he is out, It took him two years to get a winning record AFTER he made his moves of tearing down Seattle’s roster. So Cary can go there, it’ll be like Maxwell only worse. Chip’s first year they played New Orleans in the playoffs, It just shows how bad New Orleans is that we were in that game at all with this defense. Our best receiver, djax, was shut down by one guy til he went down on Concussion protocol then Djax made one play. Riley made a crippling drop while wide open which would have been a td. And Shady was stopped by a weak Saints run defense. Chip has a bad record against better teams. HIs system needs talent and he came on to a team that was lacking. Even the best players that were getting paid all the money weren’t as good as other teams’ players. Let Chip have his time to build his team. This city is so starved for a championship in football that we want to rush out anyone who doesn’t bring it quickly. Cary came here butthurt that Baltimore chose not to bring him back and he had an attitude about it from day one. He made mistakes that someone like him shouldn’t be making and he wanted to stay and like baltimore, got booted. No one took him seriously til now? You are funny beast
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Hey if you end up being right, more power to you.
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Chip comes with alot of fanfare and credentials. If he turns out to be as cutting edge as it seems he wants to be he may turn out to be special. If he is merely acting out on Luries orders and shucking the Eagle oysters then he will prove to be a shill and a failure.
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Fan fare for a gimmick master.
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Funny I remember Chip’s first season everyone lauded over how players stayed healthy and how they had a 2nd wind for the. 2nd half of the season. All praises to Chip’s conditioning system. The very next year the team was decimated by injuries and went on a critical three game losing streak against two of the better teams in the NFL and the woeful Redskins. The looked flat and exhausted in most of those games. They couldn’t sustain drives and the defense looked tired. So what happened to Chip’s great conditioning system then? Cary Williams felt there was a lack of preparation. I. Could understand why after all Chip’s more concerned with doing things fast than he is with doing things correctly. Chip may think “culture beats scheme every time,” but NOTHING beats preparation. Chip’s been thriving off the bottom feeder teams in the NFL, but when he’s gone up against the big boys he gets exposed. I hope he can prove me wrong, but I think that’s going to be hard to do with a team full of Riley Cooper’s.
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