Fixing line is vital for Eagles

Two years ago, as Andy Reid was desperately trying to save his job, the Eagles came from behind to win three of their first four games and make it seem that Reid might satisfy owner Jeffrey Lurie's demand for improvement over the previous season's 8-8 record.

The fans were understandably split about this prospect. On one hand, winning is nice, but on the other, a sunny day on Feb. 2 feels good only to the groundhog.

It turned out there wasn't much for the Andy-must-go crowd to worry about. The season unraveled, the Eagles lost 11 of the 12 remaining games, and Reid was given permission to pursue his life's work somewhere else.

There could be no two coaching situations more dissimilar than Reid's in 2012 and that of Chip Kelly in 2014, but it is worth noting that the final unraveling for Reid was closely connected to a disastrous set of circumstances along the offensive line. Any time the loss of Danny Watkins hurts you, that's a fair description of a disaster.

Regardless of what the rest of this season holds, Kelly is playing with house money as the resident savior and savant of the franchise Reid couldn't revive. He took that 4-12 mark Reid left behind and spun it into 10 wins and a return to the playoffs with jitterbug speed.

The offensive-line problems that are plaguing Kelly and the Eagles will be marked as understandable excuses for Kelly if the team's record suffers. For Reid, whose reserve of excuses had been exhausted in his final few seasons, they were merely the grease on the skids.

Make no mistake about it, however. The coming-apart of 2012 could happen again if the Eagles aren't able to get the offensive line solidified. Maybe they couldn't lose 11 of the next 12, but a season in which improvement - and maybe even a playoff win - was expected could turn into something much more disappointing.

Last season, the offensive line of Jason Peters, Evan Mathis, Jason Kelce, Todd Herremans, and Lane Johnson was on the field for all but 94 of the 1,104 offensive snaps. Kelly shrugged when it was suggested that was a lucky streak, preferring to give credit to the team's sports-science blend of conditioning, nutrition, and work habits. Well, either luck or the smoothies ran out this time.

Johnson was popped for a performance-enhancing drug violation during the offseason and missed the first four games. His backup at right tackle, Allen Barbre, and left guard Mathis were both injured in the opener. Kelce went down with a sports hernia in the third game.

The ripples from those absences have swamped the running game and kept quarterback Nick Foles from appearing settled in the pocket. Dennis Kelly, David Molk, Matt Tobin, Andrew Gardner, and Wade Smith have been hopscotched around the line, each plugged into the leakiest holes at various times, and the results have been predictably inconsistent. Against San Francisco on Sunday, the offense hit bottom, gaining just 213 net yards, nearly 200 fewer than the average production under Kelly, and failing to score a point.

Johnson came back to practice this week and was immediately reinstalled in the starting lineup, allowing Herremans to move back to the right guard position. That gives the Eagles three of the five starters at their natural positions for Sunday's game against St. Louis, compared with just one (Peters) against the 49ers.

"Maybe that adds a little bit of stability to it, but we really need to get it figured out up front right now," Kelly said.

Reid said much the same things in 2012, but it never got figured out. Maybe Kelly will have better luck with Kelce and Mathis coming back - the team hopes both can return by the ninth game of the season, a Nov. 10 Monday nighter against Carolina - and everyone can stay healthy after that.

In 2012, Kelce went down in the second game, Herremans in the eighth game, and both were lost for the season. Watkins, the starting right guard, went out with an ankle injury in the sixth game and didn't return to the starting lineup. Peters was already out with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

The mix and match Reid tried included Dennis Kelly; Dallas Reynolds; King Dunlap; Demetress Bell; a free-agent signing named Jake Scott who hasn't played in the league since; and a pair of reserve centers, Steve Vallos and Matt Tennant, who couldn't supplant Reynolds.

It wasn't pretty, and it never got prettier. The line allowed 48 sacks, and LeSean McCoy was able to gain just 840 yards on 200 carries. Under a coach with a reputation as an offensive mastermind, the Eagles scored more than 24 points once all season.

That was then, and the only connection to now is that the offensive line hasn't gotten any less important. If Kelly gets it figured out, the expectations for this season can continue as before. If not, then nothing is guaranteed.

Even coaches with job security need an offensive line. They just don't need it as quickly.