It is finally time to watch regular season football. Realizing what a goldmine they had at their fingertips, the National Football League wasted no time in getting quarterback Robert Griffin, III and the Washington Redskins onto the big stage in 2013. As most of the free world knows, the team opens the season on Monday Night Football playing an NFC East Division foe, the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the unforgettable lyrics from Hank Williams, Jr., ‘Are you ready for some football?’
The Redskins’ defense has a huge challenge this week in planning for this new Philly team. Even though Washington has played Philadelphia year after year, the “Iggles” are no longer under the care and feeding of long-time head coach Andy Reid. There is a new head coach (Chip Kelly), a new offensive coordinator (Pat Shurmur) and a new defensive coordinator (Bill Davis). The only game tape Washington has of the Eagles’ new schemes is that of this past preseason and anything out there of the teams from which these coaches hail. Word is out that the offense, in particular, is very different than what anyone in the NFL has seen from the City of Brotherly Love.
Kelly ─ hired this past January from the University of Oregon ─ took the Ducks to new heights in his time there, mounting a 46-7 overall record and reworking that football program into one of the nation’s most dynamic. He is thought to be one of the nation’s top innovative football minds.
Shurmur was actually with the team as tight ends coach from 1999-2001 and as their quarterbacks coach from 2002-2008, but this is his first year as OC there.
Basically, Redskins’ defensive coordinator Jim Haslett must game-plan for a brand new offensive system in the Quaker City. It won’t matter that much how familiar he is with the players themselves.
“We have looked at endless film on Oregon,” the DC said during last week’s presser about preparing for a new Philly system. “[It’s] a little bit different because they do some things in college that they cannot do up here. But it’s basically the same, what we saw on film last week. I think Chip will do a great job there because they’ve got great skill players on offense. They’ve got good quarterbacks, the running back is extremely scary, their wide receivers are good football players and they’ve got a heck of a line. So I think they will be successful in what they do and how they do it, but hopefully we’ll play well in that first game.”
Kelly will no doubt bring a high-energy, more college-like offense to the field. In this regard, it’s going to help that the Redskins’ defensive squad is working every day against offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s read-option scheme. But, like most teams, the Eagles didn’t show much in the preseason to study. They did show a spread-option tendency and it is good for the Redskins that linebacker Brian Orakpo is back with his edge/rushing skills to compliment teammate Ryan Kerrigan’s.
Kelly ran a lot of no-huddle during his time at Oregon. While he hasn’t shown it much this entire preseason, one of the times he did, the Carolina Panthers couldn’t stop it. The Eagles averaged a play every 18 seconds in the 14-9 victory which is pretty high-octane. A no-huddle with a quarterback as mobile as Michael Vick and a running back as good as LeSean McCoy is going to be dangerous. Add in a wide out as quick as DeSean Jackson and you’d better forget about just drinking the Kool-Aid. You’re going to want Red Bull.
A lot of analysts and NFL-types have indicated that the Eagles will likely end up at the bottom of the barrel in the division by the end of the season due to the new coaching staff and new system. It is difficult to start over with a ball club, no doubt about it. But, Kelly and Shurmur have good weapons to run the type of offense they’re looking to run. Last season, McCoy played in 12 games but still had 1,213 total yards and five touchdowns. Jackson played in 11 games and had 45 receptions for 700 yards (a 15.6 yards-per-catch average and 693 were yards-from-scrimmage) and two touchdowns.
If the Eagles can perfect the no-huddle offense the way their new head coach envisions it ─ he has said he wants to run 80 to 100 plays a game (which will likely never consistently happen because it would be too hard on the players), this is going to be an extremely dangerous team. The average number of offensive NFL plays has been in the 60s for the past 20 or 30 years, so Kelly won’t be able to sustain that kind of pace every game every week. But that doesn’t mean he won’t bring the Eagles into a new era of winning should his scheme take hold. That could mean big trouble in Week 1 for the Redskins. Haslett and the defense will have their work cut out for them Monday night.
“The best thing to do is get three-and-out and then you won’t have to worry about those types of things,” Haslett said when asked about Kelly’s high aspirations on plays per game. “We will have a plan for all of that. I think a lot of teams are going to that. We will get a look at that next when we play Buffalo because they do it. They are trying to rattle off 100 plays. I do not know if you can get 100 plays in this league, but they got 91 off against New England. They did a good job. They had a couple of drives last week of 16, 14 plays, and we’ve just got to be ready. The best thing to do is to a good job on first down; get them into situations we can get off the field.”
Barry Cofield and the defensive line must do their best against a good Eagles’ offensive line. Philly tackle Jason Peters and guard Evan Mathis are underrated. Center Jason Kelce, back from MCL/ACL tears in Week 2 last season, is a Pro Bowler waiting to happen. Washington’s defensive line has to find a way to collapse the pocket and yet contain Vick enough that he is under duress at least some of the time so that Kerrigan and/or Orakpo can get to him. The VA Tech alum needs to make enough mistakes that the Redskins’ new and improved secondary can get their hands on the ball and keep it out of McCoy and Jackson’s if the ball gets to the next level.
It’s going to be an interesting game. Let’s hope the Philly offensive and defensive schemes are still new enough that Eagle’s players are still having to think and not yet just react… especially in Chip Kelly’s energy-fueled offense.
Hail.