The Eagles are 4-6 heading into a Thanksgiving matchup with the Detroit Lions and are only a game out of first place.
But after getting hit by a Tampa Bay Buccaneers buzzsaw this past weekend, Chip Kelly's team feels further away from their promising state than ever. Players are questioning the effort of fellow star players, and Kelly might not be too far behind.
Via the Philadelphia Inquirer, at least one player was willing to stand up this week and profess his belief in Kelly. Offensive lineman Lane Johnson was disappointed with the team's current record, but felt Kelly had some equity in the locker room.
"I feel bad because we've been able to do some good things here in the first two years, but to come where it is now, it's a big drop-off," Johnson said. "But we still believe in him, we still believe in our players. We just have to dig ourselves out of this hole."
Added linebacker Brandon Graham, who said he texted Kelly after a meeting to ensure he knew Graham was behind him:
"Nobody knows who's coming back next year and who's not," Graham said. "All I know is when they're thinking about, 'Who quit on us during the season?,' I don't want them to say B.G."
Because Kelly is so walled off and because he doesn't have a deep winning pedigree at the NFL level like Bill Belichick has, we aren't sure if he's capable of being a master motivator. Certainly on Sunday against the Buccaneers the Eagles looked uninspired. The Eagles were physically and emotionally dominated over the course of 60 minutes.
However, we will find out. This is a stretch where Kelly can still make believers out of us, and his own players.
