DMN: Best of Rick Gosselin: Two key factors favor Cowboys over Eagles

[Dodger12]

Well, you were responding to my post and my point was that preseason means zip as a regular season predictor. You and lots of others seem wildly impressed by Sam Bradford's performance in a preseason game, a QB whose career to date has been defined by injury and inconsistency, and I am not. You then changed the discussion from the relevance of preseason to the impressiveness of Chip Kelly's resume, especially considering he had no quarterback and no talent, and I posed the question in response. You seem to have missed the gist, though. Bruce Arians and Mike McCoy began their careers simultaneously to Chip Kelly and have achieved at least as much success. Nobody's gushing about them. Why is Chip Kelly so much better? So far he hasn't proven to me that he is, and some preseason games aren't gonna change my mind.

If you're going to respond, then at least be accurate with what I said. I'm not a fan of Bradford, I said as much. But Kelly's offense is QB friendly and can inflate an average QB's stats. At the end of the day, Sanchez was what Sanchez has always been and Bradford may most likely end up the same way and it wouldn't surprise me one bit.

I understand it's pre-season, but the Eagles look good in any event and that's something I really never expected when Kelly gutted his triplets. At this point, the division will probably come down to Dallas and Philly.

Peters, McCoy, Evan Mathis, Trent Cole, DeMeco Ryans, Nnamdi Asomugha, two future Pro Bowlers in Kelce and Maclin. Kelly had Michael Vick, a veteran and four-time Pro Bowl player, and Nick Foles, who set a bunch of single season records in 2013, when he took the job, which beats the hell out of what Arians had to work with at QB. With Peters, Mathis and Kelce, Philly had a great offensive line--far cry from the total mess Arians had to deal with.

Peters, McCoy and Jason Babin were the only Pro-Bowlers for Philly in 2012. Foles had his record setting year under Kelly. Asomugha never played for Kelly and he was released at the end of the 2012 season. He was an absolute overpaid bust in Philly. Ryans had his best year under Kelly but far from a pro-bowler and benefited from the scheme change. I mean, how many years are you going to go back when you consider someone a pro-bowler because he most certainly wasn't one in 2012. Maclin? Really? The guy never broke 1000 yards before Kelly arrived and he benefited greatly from Kelly's system. Trent Cole was sub-par in 2012 and did he ever even make the pro-bowl in his career?

Again, whose fault is that? Vick got injured and Foles had a record-setting year. Then Kelly benched Foles for Sanchez and traded Foles for Bradford

When did this happen? Foles broke his collar bone and was done for the year when Sanchez took over. But my point is that Kelly has won without the benefit of stability at the most important position in the game. If Garrett won 20 games with any combination of Weeden, Vaughn and Showers, I'd be equally impressed.

 

[VACowboy]

If you're going to respond, then at least be accurate with what I said. I'm not a fan of Bradford,

You're right. I got caught up in the argument a lot of other (media) people are making. I hate when people do that to me. Apologies.

I understand it's pre-season, but the Eagles look good in any event and that's something I really never expected when Kelly gutted his triplets. At this point, the division will probably come down to Dallas and Philly.

I don't expect anything from preseason because history tells us that nothing that happens during the preseason predicts anything that matters. It doesn't surprise me at all that an offense completely different than every other offense in the league rolls up huge numbers in games where nobody's looking at tape, nobody's gameplanning and nobody gives a crap who wins.

I'm not gonna weed through the Pro Bowl stuff, except to say that Ryans' best year most certainly did not come under Chip Kelly. He was defensive rookie of the year and went to two Pro Bowls in Houston. My point was that the cupboard was far from bare when Kelly got to Philly, especially on the offensive side of the ball. He walked into a heck of a lot better QB situation than Arians did. Philly had All Pros on its OL too. Arizona had nothing. So the whole "Chip won while rebuilding his roster" thing just doesn't fly with me.

But my point is that Kelly has won without the benefit of stability at the most important position in the game.

And my point is, Bruce Arians has won more with less, especially at QB, in a tougher division, and no one is gushing about his genius. Chip came in and won 20 games with Andy Reid's Roster, but who's to say Reid wouldn't have done the same? You mention that Foles had his best year to date with Kelly at the helm. I point to the fact that Foles was a rookie in 2012 and completed a higher percentage of his passes (under Reid) than he did his last year running Kelly's offense. Maclin never broke 1000 yards before last year, it's true, but he was never the #1 target before last year, either. He went for 762, 964 and 857 in 2010-2012, with DeSean Jackson rolling up similar numbers on the same field.

Kelly's offense is QB friendly, but it has to be. If his guys aren't completing a very high percentage of their throws, they're off the field in seconds, watching his defense drag ***. Like I said: defenses are catching up. There's a reason Kelly has a 4-7 record against playoff teams. There's a reason Foles couldn't repeat 2013's performance last year. And while I have no doubt that Philly will be tough for us this year, it's going to take more than 20 wins and some preseason success to convince me that Kelly and his up-tempo O can succeed long-term in the pros.

If Garrett won 20 games with any combination of Weeden, Vaughn and Showers, I'd be equally impressed.

If Kelly won 20 games in two years with Weeden, Vaughan and Showers, so might I.