Like most games it seems anymore, Chip Kelly didn't have any answers for the Buccaneers.
The roller-coaster ride is insane.
Eagles win, the fan base in Philly goes berserk, making crazy proclamations about playoffs and Super Bowls and what have you. Eagles lose, the fan base in Philly goes berserk, making crazy proclamations about discarding the head coach and dismantling the team.
If this weren’t so blatantly basic and true it might be hilarious to think about the absurdity of it all, about how such hyperbole only needed a drum roll and punchline to accompany it.
But really, truly, this is what 55 years without an NFL championship has wrought in this town.
Sanity … what the hell is that?
Patience … you’re kidding, right?
It’s a knee-jerk overreaction to the slightest positive or negative anymore, things being blown way out of proportion, to the utmost extreme with no room for shades of gray … you know, until the next week, when they all jump into the car and start riding the roller coaster again.
Down-down. Up-down. Up-up. Down-up. Down-down.
So it has gone thus far in 2015, with a 4-6 start largely erasing the misguided hopes and dreams that had fairytale storylines that included 12, 13 or even 14 wins for this third edition of Chip Kelly’s Eagles.
The reality is, no one in their right mind should have been imagining such grandiose things for this squad. Wishing for them, sure. But believing that they’d happen, and actually stating they would, almost as a mean’s of convincing one’s self … sorry, just silly and, frankly, unhealthy.
Gotta imagine there has been a serious surge in blood-pressure and depression meds in the region lately, not to mention alcohol consumption.
Failing to face the facts, or injury reports, is never a wise thing to do. It’s disregarding the evidence available to draw an informed conclusion as to what you can, if not should, expect.
In short, with banged-up entities taking the reins at such key spots as quarterback, running back and inside linebacker, an overpaid fourth wheel being the secondary addition, and a still relatively “newbie” NFL coach increasing his workload to ruler of the Eagles’ universe, umm, what the hell were any of you nutjobs thinking?
A big part of the problem was going all-in on the Kelly investment in the first place. As far as hyped-up individuals go, he had few peers in the coaching ranks. Call it the Joe Paterno Factor. Once the saintly one arrived in State College, he built a program from scratch and erected a stadium in his spare time – or so the fantasy goes. The reality is, Penn State football was a regional power already, not to mention a regular in the national power – courtesy of Rip Engle, Paterno’s former coach at Brown.
But you’d never know that with the narrative that was forever spewed out there as fans and media types alike wanted, needed a hero to ever embellish their belief in the program. Whatever, it wasn’t true. Paterno took a very good program and made it a great one.
Kelly’s tale goes something along the same lines. That Oregon didn’t even exist until younger Chipper made his way out West. Suddenly, the Ducks were playing for championships and sporting funky new uniforms. Sorry to shed some truth to the situation, but Oregon was burning the national-program and trendy-attire trails well before Kelly got there. The guy who brought him in, Mike Bellotti, had a runner-up finish in the polls, too – just six years prior. Heck, even the guy who followed him, Mark Helfrich, did the same thing – two years after Kelly’s departure.
Thing is, Kelly was never the godsend he was made out to be. It was foolish to place that much faith in him, or anyone.
Then again, it’s just as foolish to go on an extreme roller-coaster ride every damn week going off what his Eagles do right now.
It’s a transitional year, people. The guy came into the season with a 20-12 mark in the NFL through two seasons. Even after a godawful-looking first three months this season, that mark only has slipped to 24-18. Get a grip.
If you ask me, fans are jumping the gun on his firing too fast. Then again, if you asked me, hiring his overrated, arrogant, egomaniacal behind was a mistake in the first place.
- Jack Kerwin | [email protected]
Eagles win, the fan base in Philly goes berserk, making crazy proclamations about playoffs and Super Bowls and what have you. Eagles lose, the fan base in Philly goes berserk, making crazy proclamations about discarding the head coach and dismantling the team.
If this weren’t so blatantly basic and true it might be hilarious to think about the absurdity of it all, about how such hyperbole only needed a drum roll and punchline to accompany it.
But really, truly, this is what 55 years without an NFL championship has wrought in this town.
Sanity … what the hell is that?
Patience … you’re kidding, right?
It’s a knee-jerk overreaction to the slightest positive or negative anymore, things being blown way out of proportion, to the utmost extreme with no room for shades of gray … you know, until the next week, when they all jump into the car and start riding the roller coaster again.
Down-down. Up-down. Up-up. Down-up. Down-down.
So it has gone thus far in 2015, with a 4-6 start largely erasing the misguided hopes and dreams that had fairytale storylines that included 12, 13 or even 14 wins for this third edition of Chip Kelly’s Eagles.
The reality is, no one in their right mind should have been imagining such grandiose things for this squad. Wishing for them, sure. But believing that they’d happen, and actually stating they would, almost as a mean’s of convincing one’s self … sorry, just silly and, frankly, unhealthy.
Gotta imagine there has been a serious surge in blood-pressure and depression meds in the region lately, not to mention alcohol consumption.
Failing to face the facts, or injury reports, is never a wise thing to do. It’s disregarding the evidence available to draw an informed conclusion as to what you can, if not should, expect.
In short, with banged-up entities taking the reins at such key spots as quarterback, running back and inside linebacker, an overpaid fourth wheel being the secondary addition, and a still relatively “newbie” NFL coach increasing his workload to ruler of the Eagles’ universe, umm, what the hell were any of you nutjobs thinking?
A big part of the problem was going all-in on the Kelly investment in the first place. As far as hyped-up individuals go, he had few peers in the coaching ranks. Call it the Joe Paterno Factor. Once the saintly one arrived in State College, he built a program from scratch and erected a stadium in his spare time – or so the fantasy goes. The reality is, Penn State football was a regional power already, not to mention a regular in the national power – courtesy of Rip Engle, Paterno’s former coach at Brown.
But you’d never know that with the narrative that was forever spewed out there as fans and media types alike wanted, needed a hero to ever embellish their belief in the program. Whatever, it wasn’t true. Paterno took a very good program and made it a great one.
Kelly’s tale goes something along the same lines. That Oregon didn’t even exist until younger Chipper made his way out West. Suddenly, the Ducks were playing for championships and sporting funky new uniforms. Sorry to shed some truth to the situation, but Oregon was burning the national-program and trendy-attire trails well before Kelly got there. The guy who brought him in, Mike Bellotti, had a runner-up finish in the polls, too – just six years prior. Heck, even the guy who followed him, Mark Helfrich, did the same thing – two years after Kelly’s departure.
Thing is, Kelly was never the godsend he was made out to be. It was foolish to place that much faith in him, or anyone.
Then again, it’s just as foolish to go on an extreme roller-coaster ride every damn week going off what his Eagles do right now.
It’s a transitional year, people. The guy came into the season with a 20-12 mark in the NFL through two seasons. Even after a godawful-looking first three months this season, that mark only has slipped to 24-18. Get a grip.
If you ask me, fans are jumping the gun on his firing too fast. Then again, if you asked me, hiring his overrated, arrogant, egomaniacal behind was a mistake in the first place.
- Jack Kerwin | [email protected]
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