Chip Kelly Feels Friday's Mistakes Are Correctable
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Two days after the Eagles lost 34-28 to the Chicago Bears in their first pre-season game, coach Chip Kelly addressed a few issues of concern, which included Nick Foles' two interceptions, the offensive line play, the nine penalties the Eagles incurred and who looked good.
As for the offensive line, Kelly said it wasn't anything the Bears were doing, as much as it was the Eagles hurting themselves.
"They sat in the same [defensive] front and played it the entire game," Kelly said. "It was a four-down front. They didn't do anything scheme-wise to us. The thing that hurt our offensive line, to be honest with you, was we got too many penalties. We were moving the ball. Two of the penalties we had negated big gains for us. Had a pass to [Brent] Celek that was a big gain that got called back. That was critical.
"And then we had another where the receiver [Jeremy Maclin] was trying to get a release and gets a facemask trying to get by the corner. It's a point of emphasis. It should have been called. But when you get that many penalties to start, we had a screen pass that got some yards and we had a hold on the back side that wasn't even necessary. So the penalties were what really hurt those guys up front."
Nick Foles didn't look particularly good. He ended two of three drives with an interception and just seem comfortable.
"On the one interception on second and four or five, [Foles] should've just thrown it away. He was trying to make something happen in that situation," Kelly said. "We had a twist game on the other interception where he got moved off his spot a little bit. But he still has to set his feet and throw the ball.
"Sometimes you don't have to complete every pass. Sometimes an incompletion is better than an interception. Those are lessons he'll learn from. But that's the thing about Nick. When he makes a mistake, he bounces back and learns from it and doesn't make the mistake again. [The first interception] he didn't get a real good chance to set his feet. He was throwing off his back foot.
"On the second one, we tried to run a naked play. We didn't do a great job of sealing the end for him. And he didn't really get to the perimeter. He just needs to learn in that situation to throw the ball away. It's second and 4. We were in field goal territory. We always talk STP. No sacks, no turnovers, no penalties when you're in the red zone."
Kelly cited the play of Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, Beau Allen, Brandon Bair and Mark Sanchez, who completed 7 of 10 for 79 yards and two touchdown drives—against the Bears' twos.
"[Sanchez] is a real quick thinker; makes decisive decisions," Kelly said. "He's very athletic when you watch him drop. Has some pop in his feet when he gets to the top of his drop and goes through his progressions. Gets the ball out quickly. Has a very quick release. We were very excited when we had a chance to get him. He's played 68 games in this league. Took his team to two AFC championship Games. So he has a lot of experience.
"The one thing you're starting to see is he's healthy. If anybody has any questions about his arm rehabbing after that throw he made right at the end of the first half—he threw the ball 68 yards in the air. He's back and he's excited about playing football."
Kelly liked Graham's pass-rushing with the twos, Curry's penetration and Allen and Bair's ability to stuff the run.