Silverman: Kelly May Look Like NFL Coaching Royalty, But He Has Lots To Prove
By Steve Silverman
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He is the NFL's genius in waiting.
You get the feeling that with Chip Kelly, winning and building a championship team would not be enough. You get the feeling that here is a coach with dreams of grandeur and glory, a man who wants recognition for the great changes that he is making to the game of football.
The head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles has his team run its offense at a different pace than everyone else. His Eagles tend to snap off a play every 22.5 seconds, and that's faster than any other team in the league. The Cleveland Browns also run their plays quickly, but Kelly has Mike Pettine's team beat by more than three seconds per play.
It's all part of Kelly's grand scheme. Not only does he want to outplay and outperform the opposition, he wants to do it in a way that causes them great fatigue along the way. His plan makes quite a bit of theoretical sense.
If his Eagles start out any game on even terms with an opponent, and they can run plays quickly and tire out the defense, then they should be the stronger team in the fourth quarter.
If his Eagles can gain an early edge on their opponents, then they can push their advantage and take the competitiveness out of them by tiring them out as well as outplaying them.
Kelly and his staff have worked hard on the conditioning end of things. They approach the game in a scientific and intelligent manner to make their players stronger, more rested, more hydrated and have more endurance when the game is on the line.
It's a legacy-enhancing aspect of coaching that others have touched on in the past, but never fully embraced the way Kelly has.
But here's the rub. It's still about winning in the NFL, and while the Eagles have made great strides under him, they still have not beaten any opponent of significance.
When they went to Green Bay in Week 11, the Packers hung 53 points on them. They have also lost road games to San Francisco and Arizona.
Perhaps their most impressive victory came in Week 2, when they roared down the stretch and came back to beat the Indianapolis Colts on the road, 30-27. By the time that game reached the fourth, the Eagles were hitting on all cylinders and the Colts had tuckered out.
The rest of their victories have come against flawed opponents. Even their Thanksgiving Day victory over the Cowboys came as a result of an overmatched Dallas defense being unable to hold it together against the pace of Philadelphia's attack.
The Eagles will get another chance to prove just how talented they are and how smart Kelly is when they take on the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Seattle had plenty of problems earlier this season and did not look anything like the team that won the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in February.
But they held the Cardinals and the Niners to three points each over the last two weeks, and their defense has rounded into form with the return of middle linebacker Bobby Wagner.
Many football fans don't know Wagner or what he can do, because he doesn't have gaudy sack or interception numbers. However, he is an old-school middle linebacker who can roam sideline-to-sideline with speed and bring down the ball carrier or receiver without fail.
The attention may go to Richard Sherman or Earl Thomas, but Wagner is tough as nails and can shoot the gap and make plays that most linebackers can't. Wagner is third on the Seahawks with 68 tackles, a figure that is even more impressive considering he missed five games due to turf toe earlier this season.
Kelly can try to turn up the pace on the Seahawks in an attempt to tire them out or befuddle them, but Seattle head coach Pete Carroll will be ready for it.
Carroll knows Kelly from their days in the Pac-10 -- Carroll at USC and Kelly at Oregon -- and he is not fearful. His Seahawks have the top-ranked defense in the league and they are built for confrontations with the best offensive teams.
Carroll also knows a little bit about Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez from their days together with the Trojans.
We're not saying that Kelly is not a good coach who may one day figure it out in the NFL. He appears to be on his way. But when it comes to outcoaching the opposition, he has to take a back seat to men like Carroll, Jim Harbaugh, Bruce Arians, Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Mike Tomlin, Andy Reid, Mike McCoy, John Fox, Sean Payton and John Harbaugh. Those men have all gotten the best of him during the past two seasons or won Super Bowls.
It's nice that Kelly is putting together his grand plan for greatness. However, shouldn't he beat some good teams and win some important games before he starts preening?
Kelly and his Eagles have much to prove, and they can begin by making a statement Sunday.
Follow Steve on Twitter at @ProFootballBoy
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