Execution. We’ve heard that word a lot lately, whenever Chip Kelly tries to explain what’s wrong with the Eagles. We’ve heard it used so much over the past four weeks, it’s as stale as, “I’ve got to do a better job.”
Yet tired as it may be, when Kelly says execution is the problem, there’s truth to that. Opponents aren’t beating the Eagles right now as much as they’re taking advantage of all the avoidable, fundamental mistakes this team is making, on both sides of the football — and the head coach knows it.
“The difference in this league right now is almost every game, when you look up, is a less-than-one-score-game,” Kelly said Monday. “I think 31 of the 62 games so far have been decided by eight points or less.
“So it's a matter of making one more play than your opponent. We had a touchdown called back because we lined up wrong. That's the difference in a football game. We missed an extra point, we missed a field goal. That's the difference in a football game. We get a completion on third down, we allow a completion on the third down. That's the difference in the football game.
“It's just one play here or there and it's a different story when we are standing here today.”
People don’t want to hear that, but it’s not inaccurate. The Eagles could easily be sitting on a 2-2 or 3-1 record right now — even 4-0 — as opposed to 1-3. They’ve simply been a little unlucky in that players are coming up small.
Some of the mistakes are obvious. We know about the costly penalties, the missed kicks, the dropped passes, the dumb turnovers. They’re in your face.
NFL
There are also plenty of smaller miscues, many of which go relatively unnoticed, that are coming back to haunt the Eagles.
Take, for example, something as typical as a missed tackle. Happens all the time. But when it happens on 3rd-and-19 of the opening possession, a missed tackle can affect the entire complexion of the game.
Washington calls a draw from its own 12-yard line to get a few back before the offense punts the ball away. The Eagles' defense buzzes the linebackers outside, so the safeties are responsible for the middle of the field.
The safeties read draw and drop down to make the stop. Walter Thurmond is going to get a little too excited, however. Notice where he is compared to Malcolm Jenkins at the bottom of the screen. The back is barely out of the backfield, and Thurmond is already at the 20-yard line. Jenkins, under control, is five yards deeper.
Thurmond over-pursued and took a bad angle to the ball-carrier as a result — and he knows it. The safety now must change directions and try to tackle a running back with a full head of steam.
As you can see, the back is already by Thurmond when he makes contact, and he runs right through the tackle attempt. Not only is this a first down, it’s a 42-yard gain. Not only do the Eagles not get the ball with great field position after a quick three-and-out, Washington controls the ball for seven minutes, 38 seconds and gets three points out of the drive.
The effects are felt in the box score, but on the next few possessions as well. After a dropped pass, a run for no gain and a sack on a series that started on their own 20-yard line, the Eagles cede the great field position to Washington instead, and the opponent comes up with three more points.
Washington leads 6-0 and has possessed the ball for nearly 13 minutes in the first quarter.
Of course, it doesn’t help matters when the Eagles' offense can’t get out of its own way, a familiar problem. And while injuries forced some in-game changes along the offensive line, it’s troubling that players didn’t seem to know what they were doing.
It’s 3rd-and-7, which isn’t a high-percentage play, but the Eagles have a chance. Matt Tobin moved over to left tackle to replace Jason Peters, so Dennis Kelly is in at right guard — make a note of that. Keep an eye on No. 91 for Washington, Ryan Kerrigan, too. Center Jason Kelce is calling out the protection.
Just before the snap, Kerrigan shifts inside.
OK, so it was Kelly’s first snap of the game, but you have to know where Kerrigan is at all times. This is somebody who racked up 13.5 sacks and five forced fumbles a season ago, and he has an unimpeded path — straight up the middle — to the quarterback. Can’t happen.
Next possession, 1st-and-10. Simple inside-zone handoff. Backups, starters, whoever — the Eagles should be able to run this play in their sleep. However, Washington employs the dreaded slanted front, the same scheme the Dallas Cowboys used to stop DeMarco Murray in his tracks in Week 2.
The 345-pound Terrance Knighton runs right between Kelce and left guard Allen Barbre. The center reacts, but it’s too late. Murray hasn’t even received the handoff, and this play is over.
It would appear Barbre had no idea what his assignment was on this play, because he’s side-by-side with Tobin, not a single defender around, and he never laid so much as a hand on anybody. Sure, continuity is an issue, but these aren’t players in thrust into their positions for the first time, either.
And the good the Eagles were doing on offense was erased by self-inflicted wounds. On the next two series, they fumble the ball away on a trick play, have a touchdown negated by an illegal formation penalty and miss a field goal to go into the locker room trailing 13-0 at half.
Can’t blame everything on the blocking, though. The Eagles would claw back and score three touchdowns in the second half to take the lead, but a number of drives would stall due to routine errors.
Sam Bradford would eventually connect with Miles Austin for a 39-yard score, but the two left a big play out there the previous series. On 2nd-and-4, the quarterback wants to go vertical down the sideline when the deep cornerback cheats his zone coverage toward the slot receiver’s route.
For some reason, Austin slows down and looks back to Bradford, as if he’s expecting the ball to be thrown in the window between the two defensive backs. Clearly, there is a communication issue here.
Austin speeds up and gives chase, but by then it’s too late. The ball flies just over his outstretched hands, the Eagles don’t pick up the first down on the next play and it’s just a wasted opportunity.
It wasn’t the first time Bradford wasn’t on the same page with his intended target — nor the last.
Two series later on 3rd-and-6, Darren Sproles is lined up as a wide receiver at the top. He’s going to run a little slant route in behind Zach Ertz, who takes both his man and the outside cornerback downfield. Someone blew their assignment, because the safety is blitzing on the play, vacating the middle of the field.
The play works perfectly. Sproles is as wide open as it gets in the NFL. The Eagles should convert, move into field-goal range and burn precious time off the clock.
Only the pass is behind Sproles, and he’s unable to reel it in. Some would say the back should’ve caught the ball anyway, but it’s tough to stop one’s momentum, spin around and pluck something out of the air while your momentum is carrying you in the opposite direction. It’s possible Bradford thought Sproles would see all of that space and take more of a vertical path, rather than sit down in the middle.
Regardless of whether it was a miscommunication or a poor throw, it went for an incomplete pass and the Eagles were punting again.
On their 3rd-and-5, final possession, once again, the Eagles can extend the drive and move into scoring position. Bradford is looking for Jordan Matthews out of the slot. The line to gain is the 40.
Matthews runs his route three yards past the sticks. He doesn’t get much separation here, but this is open as far as the NFL is concerned.
By the time the ball arrives, the defender is on his back to disrupt the pass. And while the contact may have been a little early, Matthews didn’t come back to the ball like receivers are usually taught. He waited for it to come to him, flat-footed, allowing the corner to jump in the play. It’s not like Matthews didn’t have room, either. There was a good two yards he could move up and still pick up the first.
Instead, the offense punted the ball away here, and Washington went on its 15-play, 90-yard game-winning march to bury the Eagles. Of course, they shoveled enough dirt on themselves along the way.