Kelly's curious choice to kick a field goal

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Chip Kelly was not hired as the 21st head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles because he has a celebrated defensive mind. Even though his career started at Columbia as a defensive backs coach, it was the beautiful, fast-twitch offensive mind that made owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman pursue Kelly with the same kind of tenacious approach that the late Reggie White used to exhibit when he cut down opposing quarterbacks.

That's why it was curious when given the chance to go for the touchdown from just outside the 1-yard line at the two-minute warning Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals that Kelly opted instead for an easy three points before leaving the Eagles' fate in the hands of his defense. That was not the only thing curious about this difficult day in the desert either.

It ended in a 24-20 defeat when the defense that had played so well all day had a late-game secondary breakdown that resulted in a 75-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to John Brown. When Nick Foles' career-high 62d and final pass of the day (take that, Andy Reid) was caught by Jordan Matthews out of bounds in the end zone, the crowd at University of Phoenix Stadium celebrated the Cardinals' sixth win in seven games.

After his team slipped to 5-2 in a self-destructive heap of turnovers and penalties, Kelly said he considered going for the touchdown with the score tied at 17-all at the two-minute warning.

"Yeah, I thought about it," he said. "We got the two-minute warning and talked about it. I thought our defense to that point was playing really, really well. I had confidence in them. I told them that we were kicking the field goal because I had confidence in them."

That decision is a double-edged sword for any head coach because the offense can receive the opposite message. The drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal by Cody Parkey that ever-so-briefly gave the Eagles a three-point lead had been one of the most impressive of the day for the Eagles.

It started at the Eagles 20-yard line with 9:01 remaining and included a total of nine running plays, which represented 35 percent of the Eagles' 26 rushing plays for the game. Even the successful passes on that drive were a by-product of play-action fakes that forced the Cardinals to respect the run.

Kelly said he thought the Arizona defense "may have been a little gassed" on the Eagles' drive that resulted in the field goal. LeSean McCoy disagreed and that's not all he seemed to disagree with Kelly about.

"No, I don't feel like that," the running back said. "I felt like we could beat them in the run. Obviously they were getting tired, but we were gashing them and I don't think it had anything to do with them wearing down. I thought our guys up front were better than those guys up front."

In other words, he thought they could have run it more the entire game even though Arizona came in with the NFL's top-ranked defense against the run.

"Well, that's not really my call," McCoy said. "However the play is drawn up, I just execute them as much as possible. I definitely didn't think they were ranked as high on [run] defense as the way they played. Then at the end we ran so easy on them."

They were left, however, a little more than a yard short of a touchdown and just inches away from a first down at the two-minute warning. The final three plays of that drive were all runs. Chris Polk ran six yards to the 5-yard line on first down and then three more to the 2 on second down.

It appeared as if Polk may have even rolled into the end zone before he hit the ground, but Kelly opted not to throw his red challenge flag because he said his assistants above in the coaching box could not get a good replay look.

It was also fair to wonder why Kelly did not put his 6-foot-6 quarterback under center and let Foles try to bull his way into the end zone.

"I tried that against Dallas last year and it got shoved up our tails, so I wasn't going to run that again," Kelly said.

On the third-and-1 play, Kelly ordered Foles to set up in the shotgun and hand the ball to McCoy. The play went for no gain.

"A guy hit me as soon as I got it," McCoy said. "I tried to spin off, but it was clogged up. They did a good job of stopping it."

The Eagles did an even better job of stopping themselves. Rookie receiver Josh Huff was stripped by Frostee Rucker at the Arizona 7-yard line for the Eagles' first of three turnovers early in the second quarter, and Foles threw the first of his two interceptions on first-and-10 from the Arizona 25-yard line on the team's next possession.

"You can't turn the ball over and be a successful football team," Kelly said. "We've got to clean that up, especially in a game like this. We turned it over twice in the red zone and you do that you are going to lose the football game."

As an offense, you might also lose the confidence of your head coach even when all you need is a little more than a yard for a touchdown.

In both Eagles losses, in San Francisco on Sept. 28 and in Arizona on Sunday, the Birds drove to within two yards of a potential game-deciding touchdown. But both times, they did not make it. Here is a comparison of those drives:

VS. 49ERS

15 plays, 90 yards, 6 first downs

Trailing by 26-21, the Eagles had first and goal at the San Francisco 6 with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter.

First and 6: Nick Foles throws incomplete

Second and 6: LeSean McCoy runs for 5 yards to the 1.

Third and 1: Foles throws incomplete.

Fourth and 1: Foles throws incomplete.

San Francisco punted it back with 1:31 left, but the Eagles did not score.

Controversy: The play-calling, and why McCoy didn't get a chance to run for the yard.

VS. CARDINALS

13 plays, 78 yards, 5 first downs

With the score tied at 17, the Eagles had first and 10 at the 11.

First and 10: Chris Polk runs 6 yards to the 5.

Second and 4: Polk runs 3 yards to the 2.

Third and 1: McCoy gets the chance he didn't get vs. San Francisco to get the yard and runs for no gain.

Fourth and 1: Chip Kelly chooses a short field goal with two minutes left to give Eagles the lead.

After the Cardinals struck quickly for a TD, the Eagles got the ball back with 1:21 left but did not score.

Controversy: Should the Eagles have gone for the TD on fourth and 1?EndText

@brookob