Cary Williams Blames Chip Kelly For '14 Collapse: 'We Were Exhausted And Got Outcoached'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- To quote Big Daddy (the 1999 movie starring Adam Sandler), cornerback Cary Williams and Philadelphia are like lamb and tuna fish. They never mixed well.
Upon joining the Eagles from the Ravens before the 2013 season---from missing OTA's to pick out sconces, to questioning Chip Kelly's system, to his inconsistent play on-the-field---Williams was never liked by Eagles fans.
Last season, Kelly's second NFL season, the Eagles lost three of their final four games blowing a 9-3 start and falling short of the postseason. Williams, now a Seattle Seahawk after being released by Philadelphia this past offseason, blamed Kelly's system for his former team's 2014 collapse.
"We were talking about the fact that our conditioning and things like that were going to kick in because we worked harder than everybody in the National Football League with the Chip Kelly thing," Williams told 710 AM-ESPN Radio in Seattle on Tuesday. "We got out there, we got our teeth kicked in. So all that conditioning didn't necessarily work. Preparation wasn't necessarily the greatest neither that week. When you're going up against teams that prepare well, practice well, coach well, it's difficult in games like that. I think towards the end of the year we were exhausted and we got outcoached the majority of the games."
In his first offseason with personnel control, Kelly made numerous controversial transactions trading star running back LeSean McCoy and starting quarterback Nick Foles. Williams, like many critics, is skeptical of the Eagles' direction under Kelly.
"I enjoyed my teammates," Williams said of his time in Philly. "I enjoyed some of the coaches, but ultimately we didn't get the job done, and there was reasoning for that. Whatever that is they're creating, I didn't believe it. We went to one playoff game [after the 2013 season], we had a home playoff game and we lost that. And it was [Kelly's] first year, I understand that. I think he's a great coach, a tremendous coach. I just think that what's going on there isn't necessarily the right way of doing things, of winning games. He's won games, but when you're going against elite talent, elite players, elite teams, elite schemes, we weren't able to get the job done."
The irony is Williams, 30, did not play well last season. Williams was notorious for giving up big plays and committing dumb penalties, as the Eagles' pass defense finished second-worst in the NFL allowing 264.9 passing yards per game in 2014.
"It wasn't Chip's greatest month, but I'll tell you what, Chip Kelly coached better than Cary Williams played," 94WIP's Reuben Frank told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show.
Listen: Reuben Frank on the 94WIP Morning Show
"He gave up a lot of big plays, he whined, and he cried. Chip Kelly's out there---he's got like five backups on the o-line, he's got his backup quarterback playing half the season," Frank said. "And they still went 10-6 and probably in most year's make the playoffs. I don't think Chip did a bad job last year."
