Philly Phile | Clock-management concerns ... are they legit?

Not really sure what the hang-up is with this one thing?

For the most part, Eagles fans and Philly media have settled down on the Doug Pederson hiring as the team’s new head coach. In rather short order after the initial “sky is falling” pandemonium following him being selected after a ridiculously inept coach-search process, they’ve accepted the Andy Reid underling, even rationalizing a little bit how this rather “boring” choice may be good for the franchise.

You know, especially after the rock-star option last time around seemed to create a lot of unnecessary drama and ultimately an implosion that led to a losing season and Chip Kelly’s dismissal.

All is OK, if not good, right now. Pederson seems like a quality individual, a decent guy and, frankly, a smart one since he has encased himself with a well-rounded, experienced staff, both in terms of playing and coaching background.

Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to wait and see on this guy after all.

Or so the narrative goes.

With one nagging, gnawing caveat …

That being the supposed mismanagement of the clock by Pederson a week ago in an AFC divisional round game at New England in which his Kansas City offense seemed to have little grasp of the words “urgency” or “losing” when down two scores in the final minutes of the game.

The Chiefs didn’t hurry at all, grinding out a 16-play touchdown drive that ate up 5:16, in an attempt to close the gap while simultaneously stifling the Patriots, prepping them to be had by an onside kick or a forced, timeout-controlled three-and-out.

It failed. Most of all because Tom Brady is Tom Brady and Bill Belichick is Bill Belichick, and because of that the Patriots tried and converted a second-and-12 with 1:08 to go, effectively ending the game and diffusing Reid and Pederson’s thinking. Not that such thinking was inherently flawed. Or stupid. Or lame. Or oh, so “Andy.”

Still, it bothers some so much that the most pro-Pederson people out there continue to cling to this notion that the Birds’ current main man merely was covering for his NFL coaching sensei by taking ownership of a situation that eventually yielded nothing more than a seven-point defeat.

Whatever works …

Not for nothing, but Pederson doesn’t have to hang his head for any of it. Well, except for how he explained things. Frankly, he probably was giving others too much credit, thinking they’d be able to read his mind and fill in the blanks of some missing data from his “guilty plea.”

Stuff such as …

• Prior to punting the ball to KC following a three-and-out and pushing the Chiefs back to their own 20 with 6:29 remaining, the Patriots had gone through the visitors’ defense like Swiss cheese for two straight quarters, scoring on four consecutive possessions (not including the one-play kneel-down before halftime).
• With that, and four Super Bowl victories under his belt, we already know Brady is special. But, on this day, he also had been red hot before that quick series resulted in a punt, completing 15 of his previous 19 passes for 188 yards and two TDs.
• Teams that are ahead are more likely to continue with their regular offense when they get possession of the ball with three or four minutes remaining.
• Teams that are ahead are more likely to go conservative with their offense and run the ball when they get possession of it with less than three minutes remaining.
• The Patriots, typically, are a passing team and certainly were in this game with Brady heaving 42 attempts that netted 302 yards.
• The Patriots only had 38 yards on the ground in the game on 14 carries.

Instead, Pederson almost apologized for the next-level, outside-the-box thinking that, really, was as sound as any traditional, conventional ideas, pointing out that not having wide receiver Jeremy Maclin factored in whatever the Chiefs opted to do down the stretch.

Yo, coach, stay away from the excuses. We had enough of that pass-the-buck BS with Kelly. Stick more with the solid reasons for trying such a tactic, like saving all your timeouts remaining to use after scoring the TD last week and how that factored in your decision making. That was decent. That we can buy ... for good reason.

Hang-up be damned.

​Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]

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TAKE 2

Love him or loathe him, sometimes FOX Sports’​ Colin Cowherd can unleash a little ditty for his national sportstalk audience’​s consumption that doesn’​t regurgitate, voluntarily or not.

​Oh, it may not go down easy ... but when you're digesting some thoughts that vary from conventional wisdom that is kinda how things go.

​In regards to the Doug Pederson/Andy Reid clock-management philosophy employed last week at New England, there are many takes on it. Most of them negative.

​Like the one shared to the left, Cowherd’​s is not ... and if you’​d like a different take on what we tried to point out, give his explanation a shot RIGHT HERE.

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