Philly Phile | Put some responsibility on the D, will ya?

BY THE NUMBERS

373.5
Yards per game the Eagles’ D surrenders. That ranks 21st in the 32-team NFL.

276.5
Yards per game D gives up passing. Ranks 25th.

97
Yards per game D gives up rushing. Ranks 15th.

21.5
Points per game D gives up. Ranks 14th.

40
Percent of third-down conversions D allows. Ranks 16th.

6
Amount of sacks D has registered. Ranks 23rd.

294
Amount of snaps D has taken. Ranks 32nd.

Washington QB Kirk Cousins dropped back to throw 47 times Sunday afternoon ... and got sacked just once by the Eagles' inept pass rush during the Redskins' 23-20 victory.

There are a lot of things to dislike about Chip Kelly.

His coaching philosophy, his play-calling, his fashion sense, his speech pattern, you name it. Plenty to pick apart, no doubt, with arrogance taking center stage.

Hey, never said Buzz Bissinger was wrong. It’s just comically ironic that one who oozes arrogance would point out his issue with another doing so.

One thing, though, related to his tenure that is just flat-out silly are the complaints about time of possession and his supposed lack of valuing it and his offense’s sole responsibility with failing to garner any satisfactory level of it.

Enough already.

Seriously, just give it a rest … and look at reality.

Kelly’s whole rush-rush, hurry-up, hurry-up ideal to potentially produce more plays for his offense may be diametrically opposed to old-school, eat-up-the-clock conventionalism in the NFL, but it isn’t entirely flawed. It’s just different. It also doesn’t mean he places no value on time of possession. It’s just TOP would be a byproduct of those extra plays.

Granted, thus far in 2015, his Eagles are failing miserably in making those possible extra a reality.

Thing is, that is all the Eagles … not just those on offense.

This free pass, or excused fatigue, crap for the defense is just that … crap.

Oh, we’re all well aware that the offense isn’t holding up its end of the bargain. The three-and-outs amassed in the first month of the season would seem enough to cover 16 games’ worth of ineptitude, even for a sad-sack outfit, never mind one reputed to be explosive and revolutionary.

But the D, sorry, it ain’t any better.

See, the whole rationale that the offense is supposed to spare a team’s defensive partner is based in futility. It’s basically proclaiming that a defense cannot be great unless that team’s offense is an equal, or something close to it. Bullshit. Some of the best defenses in the history of football, hell, in all sports, were born out of preventing the bleeding by the offense from being a deathknell for a team.

Furthermore, who says if the Eagles’ O goes three-and-out that the Eagles’ D can’t jump right on the field and force a three-and-out by the opposition? Did a rule on that slip in somewhere without detection?

It’s freakin’ ridiculous that anyone, players from that Eagles’ defense included, keep pointing the finger at the Birds’ offense for the defenders’ fatigue, tiredness, lackluster performance at times.

Really? How about you shut up and shut down your opponent and get off the damn field as fast as you can, instead of whining about the lack of a break? Take responsibility yourself. Take control yourself. Create your own break.

Thing is, the fatigue-forced-by-bad-offense factor is BS to being with when you step back and look at what the Eagles’ defense has done this season.

Consider these deals:

-In the season-opening loss at Atlanta, the host Falcons drove 52 yards on seven plays for a field goal. Was that the offense’s fault? It was the D’s first trip onto the field. Can’t blame the O for that one.

-It gets even more insane with that game. After the Birds drive 95 yards to pull within 20-17, the D steps on the field and promptly surrenders a 14-play, 62-yard drive to the Falcons that eats up 7:50 and yields a FG.

-Want more? Another long drive by the Birds, this one 80 yards, apparently isn’t enough of a breather, either. As soon as it culminates with the go-ahead score, the D gives up the game-winning, five-play, 51-yard drive to Atlanta capped by a FG.

-Against Dallas, the D was on the field for a less-than-whopping six plays on two previous Cowboys possessions, but somehow was gassed enough to give up a 12-play, 79-yard drive that resulted in a FG.

-In the team’s lone win, a classic, leaking-oil limp to the finish line of a 24-17 decision vs. the Jets, the D had faced just 19 snaps in seven – that’s SEVEN – series only to get picked apart on the eighth for nine plays covering 79 yards in 2:05 and giving the Jets their first score … right after the Eagles’ O had given the D a 24-0 cushion to work with.

-This past Sunday in D.C., that same D got ground down on the Redskins’ opening possession as the hosts went 13 plays for 78 in 7:38 to take a 3-0 lead. Washington’s second possession brought 51 more yards and another FG. Not enough help from the O, you say? OK, Sam Bradford and Co. roll up back-to-back second-half TDs to pull even at 13-all, a tie the D felt was OK to relinquish on the ensuing series with a 65-yard drive and three points for the ’Skins.

The reality is, most complaints about Kelly are warranted at this point and proven to be more legit with each passing week. The TOP rants, though, are misguided and ill-informed.

Yeah, Kelly’s offense sucks, but the defense he has put together has no business being excused for that. It’s been almost as bad. The fact it has faced the most plays of any defense in the NFL is every bit its own fault, and a major reason why the Birds are just 1-3 right now.

- Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]​

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