Eagles Talk with Ray Didinger

Who would have thought that we would ring in the New Year with a home Eagles playoff game?  In a season in which seven or eight wins would have been viewed as a success, instead of arranging tee times, the Eagles are preparing for the New Orleans Saints in these first few days of 2014.  I caught up with Hall of Fame writer Ray Didinger to talk about the 2013 regular season and preview the New Orleans game on Saturday.

Didinger said there are a lot of factors that have contributed to the Eagles qualifying for the playoffs in a season that saw a six-game improvement over the previous season.  But above all he attributed the success in the regular season to Chip Kelly.  “I think he came in and changed the whole culture.  He changed the way they do things, brought in a lot of new ideas, and I think the team needed that.  I think it was clear that what [Andy] Reid was doing had gotten a little stale,” Didinger said.  He said that while you can point to other individuals and reasons for the Eagles winning the NFC East, all of those have grown out what Kelly brought to the table upon his hiring.

                                                        Associated Press
Chip Kelly has quieted the doubters and is
a viable coach of the year candidate.

What’s particularly amazing about this year’s Eagles and the job that Chip Kelly has done is that when he came into the NFL there were lots of doubters as to how he would fair.  “There were some people that thought it was going to be a disaster and doomed to fail.  I didn’t say that.  But I was a little skeptical.  I think Kelly handled it really well.  He didn’t get indignant about it or lash out he just kind of went to work.  He knew there was going to be a lot of people asking questions.  He knew it didn’t matter what he said.  What mattered was what he did and he took a four-win team and turned them into a ten-win team and won the division,” Didinger said when asked to evaluate how he felt about the Eagles’ hire.

The biggest key when it comes to Kelly’s up tempo offense in Didinger’s opinion is converting third downs.  That way a three-and-out in the span of a minute or less doesn’t happen and prevents the defense from getting gassed and spending too much time on the field.  However the criticism of Chip Kelly has dissipated win after win and with good reason.  “It’s at the point where you really can’t offer too much criticism for a guy that’s made the improvements he’s made from top to bottom,” Didinger said.

Now, the reason the Eagles are in this position to host a playoff game is because of their victory in Dallas on Sunday night to clinch the NFC East.  Most were expecting the Eagles to roll against Dallas without Tony Romo and Didinger said he was surprised the game stayed as close as it did.  “I thought the Eagles would score more points.  The Cowboys defense was so bad I thought the Eagles would score well up into the 30s.  But looking back on it was a divisional road game and it’s kind of silly to say ‘oh they’ll blow em out’” Didinger added.

When looking at this New Orleans game, one of the things that jumped out to me that the Eagles need to improve is their pass rush.  They struggled to get to Kyle Orton and I think it’s safe to say if they can’t wreak havoc for Drew Brees he may be able to sit back and pick the defense apart.  Didinger said that part of the reason the Eagles did not get tons of pressure on Orton was that Dallas did a good job designing a game plan that included Orton getting rid of the ball early before the rush came.  He added that Brees does a good job of finding his targets quickly which poses a challenge to Billy Davis and the defensive unit that, if you take away Minnesota, have played well since the Denver game in week four.

                                              Associated Press
LeSean McCoy  will have to turn in another stellar
performance to keep the Eagles season alive.

Offensively for the Eagles, Didinger said that the Eagles have to do what they do best and run the ball with LeSean McCoy.  The Cowboys were able to get to Nick Foles more than expected and made it hard for him to make some of the throws that he’s been making throughout his run that’s seen him throw 27 touchdowns to only two interceptions and also forced a Foles fumble.  Didinger noted that while New Orleans is known primarily for what they do offensively with Brees and tight end Jimmy Graham, their defense is quietly having a very nice season ranked fourth overall in total defense.

So Didinger expects New Orleans to be able to generate a pass rush and noted two key players to look out for on the New Orleans defense.  Defensive end Cameron Jordan is fifth in the NFL in sacks with 12.5 on the season and right behind him at sixth with 12 sacks this season is outside linebacker Junior Galette.  This perhaps explains why Didinger believes the Eagles win Saturday with a lot of Lesean McCoy.  “Luckily for the Eagles if there’s a weakness in the Saints defense it’s on the ground.  I think the Eagles will win the game but whenever it’s not worth getting overconfident about.  It’s a postseason game and your going up against Drew Brees,” Didinger said.

Home field and the weather certainly may play to the Eagles advantage on Saturday night as New Orleans went 8-0 in their Superdome but only 3-5 away from home and looked lost at times in road games against the Jets and Rams.  It will certainly be a fun game Saturday night.  But it’s important to realize that the fact that the Eagles are playing in this game is one hell of an accomplishment.

Photos:
http://blogs.gazette.com/fantasy/files/2013/08/mccoy-AP544512681223.jpg

http://www.wivb.com/sports/bills-and-nfl/other-nfl/kellys-choice-paved-the-nfl-road-for-schiano_46444746