Grounded Eagles
We know now that the premature “genius” label handed to Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly by the star struck media is nothing more than lazy reporting. Kelly never won a championship at the collegiate level. The only thing he’s won thus far as coach of the Eagles is allowing his ego go unchecked and his questionable player personnel moves remain unleashed.
Two games into the NFL regular season, it is safe to say the Eagles are not a good team. Losing to NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys playing on the road without their All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant, and who had the unfortunate luck of losing quarterback Tony Romo for the next two months because of a broken collarbone, means pain. And lots of it.
It is that simple. Kelly thought he was smarter than the rest of room by getting rid of All-Pro talent in LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, mercurial quarterback Michael Vick and wide receiver Jeremy Macklin. Instead, he has proved he doesn’t know what the heck he is doing. Making the move to hand Sam Bradford the keys as the franchise quarterback already looks like a disaster.
Find me somebody to tell me that Bradford is an improvement over either Vick or Nick Foles, and I would point to you Bozo the Clown. Oh, all that money the Eagles spent on running back DeMarco Murray (5-year, $42 million; $18 million guaranteed) and cornerback Byron Maxwell (6-year, $63 million; $25 million guaranteed), as of right now, turns out to be money wasted.
The Eagles are toast. Maybe it’s time to call back Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid.
Sleepless Seattle
There are two words to describe the 0-2 start for the Seattle Seahawks: Kam Chancellor. While head coach Pete Carroll and the Seahawks are messing around playing financial hardball with their All-Pro strong safety and inspiration leader, the Boom in the feared Legion of Boom secondary, sits at home rotting away.
First, the Seahawks secondary gets torched by Nick Foles (of all people) in the first game of the season. Aaron Rodgers then come right behind him and slices and dices the well-respected defensive unit to put Carroll’s team in a two-game deficit in the NFC West Division. The Seahawks need to stop being idiots and get their guy back in the fold.
If they choose to ignore Chancellor and his demands for more money, there are five words that best describes their ambitions to make it three in a row for Super Bowl appearances: Good night, and good luck.
Pretenders not Contenders
The Kansas City Chiefs are some busters. Plain and simple, they Chiefs look more like pretenders than contenders for the AFC crown. After what went down Thursday night against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs are in need of a franchise quarterback. Alex Smith is not that guy. He never was. And he never will be.
Smith is a fraud masquerading as an NFL quarterback. Well, let me take that back. Smith is a decent quarterback. He’s just not going to win you games when you need him to. Smith’s winning record as a quarterback has more to do with being backed up by two great defenses (Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers) and tons of offensive weapons to work with.
If head coach Andy Reid thought he might be able to duplicate the success of making five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl appearance as coach of the Chiefs, he’d be wise to find a Donovan McNabb clone because that’s not going to happen with Smith as his signal-caller.
On top of that, Smith’s inability not being able to throw a touchdown pass to a wide receiver since December 2013-is not going to get it done. The choke in defeat to the Broncos highlights the ineptness of Smith to be THAT guy for the Chiefs. Smith is just another average quarterback that will get you average results. It’s time to move on if you’re Andy Reid.
Cooked Cowboys
Yeah, the Dallas Cowboys have to be feeling good about themselves after going up to Philadelphia and giving the NFC East rivals Eagles an embarrassing loss at home without several of their top stars playing, and losing Tony Romo for an extended period of time. That win, however, will come with a cost.
In reality, the Cowboys are not going anywhere with Brandon Weeden as the starting quarterback. Let’s not fool ourselves. Let’s not pretend that Weeden is going to lead the Cowboys to the Super Bowl, let alone a run to the postseason. The Cowboys might have well have kissed their playoff hopes good-bye.
And in speaking about looking for a franchise quarterback, this is Romo’s 13th season. He has a history of major injuries. He’s posted a 2-4 playoff record. Jerry Jones is supposed to be a smart man. Well, it’s time for him to execute a move that will bring in a quarterback that will take the Cowboys to the next level. If he fails to do this, people won’t have the same respect for the STAR anymore.
Rookie Wars
The last time I checked, this is still the NFL. Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota discovered this against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2. After running around and looking like the next great star in the NFL in Week 1 against Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mariota was rudely sent back to earth by the Browns defense. Mariota, who went for four touchdowns against the Buccaneers, was sacked seven times in a 28-14 defeat to the Browns.
He’s a rookie. The learning curve in the NFL came be painful at times. Winston received his lesson in Week 1. In Week 2 against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, Winston won impressively. But he’s a rookie. Both he and Mariota are going to have their shares of good and bad during their rookie campaign. But what else would you expect?
Dennis is the editor and publisher of News4usonline. He covers the NFL, NBA, MLB, racial and social justice, civil rights, and HBCUs. Dennis earned a journalism degree from “The Mecca” aka Howard University. “I write on what I am passionate about.”