Eagles and Cowboys: What Did We Learn?

Chip Kelly's Eagles delivered their worst outing since he became coach two years ago. They fell to the depleted Cowboys, 20-10, Sunday, and it wasn't remotely as close as the score made it seem. There were a host of issues, but the most pressing centers around the man at the top of it all: Kelly. Here's what we learned:

1. Chip Kelly is getting outcoached. It's that simple. Dan Quinn and Rod Marinelli, the defensive minds behind the Falcons and Cowboys, have come up with schemes to shut down Kelly's run game, and there has been nothing he can do to fix it in-game. There are talent issues, of course, on the offensive line -- and I'll get to those -- but you don't have that kind of failure without systematic deficiencies. The Cowboys knew every time the Eagles were running, and they knew the exact play. Kelly has used essentially only four run plays since coming to the Eagles, and every team seems to know how he dresses them up pre-snap. As Chris Brown of Grantland pointed out on Twitter, "H-back off the line, inside zone away; tight end on the line, sweep towards the tight end; wide receivers adjust splits, pass. Rinse, repeat." His offense has become predictable and too reliant on tempo. When the run game isn't working, particular the inside zone plays, the offense looks drastically different. And when Kelly's offense slows down, it gets ugly, the three and outs become quicker, and the defense suffers as a result. I'm not ready to count Kelly out. He has been down similar roads before, although ones not as treacherous. I recall last season when the run game was stagnant for two games and then made modest strides vs. the Rams and then broke out vs. the Giants. Kelly tinkered with his plays, had Nick Foles under center more often and moved LeSean McCoy around pre-snap. He needs to dig deep and counter the effective ways coordinators are defending his offense. It's not all about execution.

2. Defensive coordinators have a template for beating Kelly. When opposing teams have slowed the Eagles run game, they've typically had one-gap, attacking 4-3 fronts. They've slanted across center Jason Kelce or run nut stunts and twists to throw off the assignment zone blocking. As Lane Johnson pointed out in my column for today's paper, coordinators will try to adopt the same techniques in the coming weeks. It's a bit of a surprise more teams haven't done it weekly, but some defenses just aren't equipped to alter their schemes so drastically. The Eagles face another top-tier defensive strategist on Sunday. Jets coach Todd Bowles employs a 3-4 front in base, but he will let an aggressive defensive end such as Muhammad Wilkerson penetrate. Johnson and some of the Eagles' other offensive linemen said they have ways to counter those schemes, but it sure didn't look it on Sunday.

3. Kelly risks losing the locker room. He still has his core leaders – players such as Connor Barwin, Malcolm Jenkins, DeMeco Ryans, Brent Celek and Kelce – who can keep this thing from falling apart, but there are so many new faces that you have to wonder if their confidence will wilt after two losses. DeMarco Murray's frustration was evident for all to see during the game. Byron Maxwell spoke of being exhausted – a subtle indication that the amount of time the defense was forced to be on the field (70 plays to 55, 40:30 to 19:30 in time of possession) affected its performance. Kelly has made a big deal about the culture he has brought to the Eagles. "Culture beats scheme," remember? Kelly took longer to come out for the postgame press conference than he ever has. He likely had a lengthy message to his players. It made me think back to something Michael Vick told me way back in early August when I spoke to him about my Chip Kelly play-caller story. He spoke about the Giants game two years ago when the offense was miserable and Kelly addressed the team after the game. "Chip came in the locker room, and I'll never forget this in all my years in the NFL," Vick said. "He said, 'We will never look that way on offense the way we looked today ever again.'" And they hadn't, for the most part, until Sunday. It remains to be seen if Kelly can get his players to buy into another turnaround.

4. The offensive line is a mess, and it's not just the guards. Allen Barbre and Andrew Gardner will get pinned the blame by some, but they may have been the least culpable for the woeful blocking effort vs. the Cowboys. Kelce had possibly his worst game as a pro. Celek couldn't block anyone, or so it seemed. Kelce stood up after the game and took responsibility for his ineffectiveness – not to mention that inexplicable snap that caused a fumble. I didn't see Celek, but he typically holds himself accountable when he doesn't play up to snuff. But the problem is all across the line, and as mentioned above, partially because Kelly's schemes aren't fooling defenses. It's a cliché, but the o-line really is like a chained-link fence. When one part breaks, the whole is susceptible to crumbling. So if one guy is a millisecond off on his trap block or if another is a click late at the second level, the entire run play could falter. For some reason, this seems to be more the case with Kelly's inside and outside zone runs. He said on WIP this morning that he won't change the personnel on the line, which was to be expected. These are his players. He could sub Matt Tobin for one of the guards, but they really aren't the only problem right now. It's every piece.

5. Sam Bradford didn't have the wherewithal to carry the offense on his shoulders. Given the opportunity to propel the offense despite the lack of any ground game, Bradford couldn't get it done. It's a tough task, certainly, but if he's to be the long-term answer at quarterback, Bradford has to overcome obstacles and he simply couldn't against the Cowboys. His numbers weren't horrendous – 23-for-37 passing for 224 yards and a touchdown – but many of those yards came in garbage time after the outcome had all been decided. Bradford missed open receivers with his throws, he missed open receivers with his reads, and he made poor decisions. The interception to Sean Lee in the end zone was a killer. Riley Cooper was open, but Kelly said this morning that Cooper was the fifth option – as he should be – on the progression read. Lee made a great play, but it still doesn't excuse the pick. Bradford wasn't completely at fault for the pass-game woes, but even Nick Foles was able to strap the Eagles offense to his back and lead it to victory, most notably against the Redskins last year. Foles, of course, had Jeremy Maclin making clutch late-game catches. Bradford doesn't have anyone remotely as good on the outside, which brings us to …

6. The lack of a downfield threat could cripple the offense even further. Jordan Matthews had two drops, which were inexcusable, but he's not the biggest problem. He's a good slot receiver. But how many teams have a slot receiver as their No. 1 receiving option? Kelly ditched the only two outside receivers who could stretch defenses over the last two offseasons. DeSean Jackson and Maclin aren't perfect, but they're significantly better than the current outside options right now. Rookie Nelson Agholor may eventually develop into that guy, but he doesn't look prepared to step into that role right now. Cooper is a waste of starting spot. His playing time continues to drop, as it should, but it is one season too late. Josh Huff can do some things with the ball in his hands and on underneath routes, but he isn't a consistent downfield receiver. Miles Austin is running on fumes.

7. DeMarco Murray is being wasted. Murray was held to two yards on 13 carries, a week after gaining nine yards on eight tries. That's 21 rushes for 11 yards, 0.5 yards a clip – or $1.6 million a yard if you account for his guaranteed salary. But, as stated above, the run-game issues had more to do with Kelly's schemes and the offensive line than anything else. It would have been nice to see Murray elude a few tacklers, but that's not really his game. He needs to get the motor going before he can cut one way or the other and go. Does Kelly need to have Bradford more under center instead of the shotgun on run plays? Does he need to incorporate some of the plays the Cowboys ran effectively with Murray – the stretch play, for instance – into the offense? Murray was composed after the game and refused to throw the offensive line or anyone else under the bus. Murray went to the team that offered the most money – and who could blame him? – but he has to be wondering if Kelly's system is best for his skill set. The run game was so abysmal that Ryan Mathews played only six snaps and had only one carry for zero yards.

8. DeMeco Ryans has only so much gas left in the tank. With Kiko Alonso (knee) and Mychal Kendricks (hamstring) likely to be sidelined for a period – the exact severity of their injuries remain unknown – the Eagles are going to have to rely on Ryans in the middle more than perhaps they hoped. He can get by on his wily ways, but Ryans just looks a beat slow out there. The Cowboys attacked him in the first quarter when he was covering tight end Gavin Escobar. Ryans rebounded and made a key tackle for loss at the 1-yard line on the ensuing play and broke up a third-down pass to Jason Witten in the end zone, but he was clearly beat by the tight end on that play, too. Ryans remains the heart of the defense. He calls the plays and lines up the front, but he simply can't play all three downs. On a bright note, rookie Jordan Hicks had a strong first outing under difficult circumstances. He filled in for Kendricks and made plays both against the run and in coverage. He was beat for a long pass when a running back got behind him, but he also recorded seven tackles, sacked and forced a Tony Romo fumble and drove the quarterback from the game with a broken collarbone.

9. Bill Davis' defense is the least of the Eagles' concerns. You always have to grade Davis on a curve because Kelly's offense forces Davis' defense to be on the field more than any other team's in the NFL. His unit kept the Eagles in the game only up until the end when there was a breakdown on the back end. Davis appeared to have the wrong defense called when Terrance Williams caught a 42-yard, game-clinching touchdown in front of Maxwell. But the defense had allowed only six points until that point. The defense forced two second-half turnovers. That should be enough. Remember when the nickel cornerback situation seemed to be the most glaring problem for this team? It seems almost quaint now.

10. And a few leftovers. Cody Parkey is back! Well, it might be too soon to say the kicker has exorcised his demons, but a 46-yard field goal had to be good for his confidence. And while we're talking about it, why did Kelly kick the field goal there? The Eagles were down 13 points at the time. They needed two scores before the three points and still two scores after. … Et tu, special teams? The Eagles' best unit last season got in on the Keystone Cops routine and allowed a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. Kelly said the center (Jon Dorenbos) missed his assignment. Way to blame the play on the long snapper, Chip! … Malcolm Jenkins was again all over the field. His strong performance will mostly get lost in the furor of losing. … Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry are still looking for their first sacks of the season.