Chip Kelly is facing his first crisis as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. His quarterbacks can't stay healthy. His offense can't score. Now 3-5, Kelly might have the worst team in the NFC East.
It's hard to take Philadelphia too seriously as a quality team after losing its 10th straight home game on Sunday, 15-7 to the New York Giants. The Eagles' only touchdown came off a botched Giants punt with under five minutes left. Kelly's offense has scored three total points over the past two weeks at home against division opponents.
Don't blame the entire loss on Michael Vick's hamstring injury. The Eagles already were getting abused on both sides of the ball before Vick left late in the second quarter in favor of Matt Barkley. The Eagles actually moved the ball better with Barkley behind center, but they kept self-destructing to end drives.
Here's what else we learned:
- The Giants, now 2-6 after two straight wins, have a lot to build off. They protected Eli Manning very well. He made a number of excellent throws on third down. Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Jerrel Jernigan and Brandon Myers all made nice grabs to keep drives going. They looked like a competent offense, even with their makeshift running game.
- Still, the Giants weren't very efficient. They settled for five field goals, and didn't convert their red zone chances. At one point in the first half, they had a yardage lead of 193-27. But the score only was 6-0.
- After the Cowboys' loss to theLions, the Giants are just two games out of first place in the NFC East.
- Giants safety Antrel Rolle had one of his best games since joining the team. He was all over the field, with a forced fumble and an interception early in the game. He stayed active throughout.
- Barkley did not do a great job when pressured. He lost a fumble in the red zone and fumbled two snaps. Otherwise, he did not look terrible for a rookie quarterback. The Eagles moved the ball, but couldn't finish drives. It was similar to last week against Dallas.
- DeSean Jackson had a miserable game. He fumbled a punt, and he failed to fight to get a first down, which killed a drive.
- Kelly made a very odd decision not to go for it on fourth-and-four down 15-0 around midfield with 10 minutes left. He punted, then was forced to go for a fourth-and-20 five minutes later.Â
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