Philadelphia Eagles (5-7) head coach Chip Kelly has decided after some serious consideration, that the Eagles are going to go with a running back by committee for the rest of the season. This move comes for a variety of reasons, but since the Eagles are in the NFC East, Kelly and the Eagles still have a legitimate shot of winning the division for the second time in three years.
Eagles Coach Chip Kelly Looks To Introduce Running Back by Committee
One of the Eagles biggest disappointments this season has been their biggest acquisitions, former Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray, who signed a five-year, $40 million contract with $21 million guaranteed. Game after game, Murray failed to produce in Chip Kelly’s offense and failed to live up to his contract, finally forcing Kelly to demote Murray during the Eagles upset victory over the New England Patriots (10-2) this past Sunday.
Chip Kelly was quick to mention his reasoning for this move following the Eagles win on Sunday. Kelly said he liked the matchup of his quicker, smaller backs against New England’s bigger linebackers. Darren Sproles gained 66 yards on 15 carries and Kenjon Barner had 39 yards on nine carries.
This week the Eagles will host the Buffalo Bills (6-6) and Rex Ryan’s aggressive defense led by their vaunted front seven.
“We have four good running backs and we’re comfortable with all of them,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur sàid.
On how exactly Chip Kelly planned on using his running backs over the final four weeks of the season, Kelly was very non-commital on how he planned to use them. Murray led the NFL in rushing last year with the Dallas Cowboys, but with the Eagles this year, he only has 569 yards rushing with enough touchdowns to count on one hand. Kelly also stated that the players knew their roles before playing the Patriots.
“We are not trying to win a rushing championship or a passing championship or a receiving championship or anything from that stretch of the imagination,” he said. “We are just trying to win football games.”
This means in some games Kelly will have to throw the ball alot, while other games it means Kelly will have to rush the ball more than he passes it.
“At the end of the day, you’re judged on did you win or did you lose,” Kelly said.
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