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Chip Kelly and Marcus Mariota on stage after the Ducks BCS victory over Kansas State.

(Staff)

The most interesting question coming out of Chip Kelly's successful NFL debut with the Philadelphia Eagles was this: Did Washington really figure Kelly out in just two quarters of football? Or did the Eagles stop attacking?

The long answer comes over the next month for the Eagles. But the quick answer came from ex-Philadelphia running back Charlie Garner on Monday.

"It was some of both," he told me. "(Washington) started getting used to the pace with what they were attacked. Also, (Robert Griffin III) settled down a little bit and took some pressure off the guys."

Deeper yet, Garner said he was watching the game and thinking how wonderful it would have been to play in Kelly's system. He said, "I was looking at that face-paced offense and thinking, 'That would be a delight to be in.'"

In fact, Garner, who played in college at Tennessee, said he first noticed Kelly's offense when he saw the Oregon Ducks on television a few years ago and, "it reminded me of Marshall Faulk and the whole 'Greatest Show on Earth' thing.

"I just smile --- what could have been."

Therein lies the biggest takeaway from Kelly's debut. We already know high school players wanted to play in his offense. LaMichael James chose the Ducks over Nebraska, and De'Anthony Thomas chose Oregon over USC, and Thomas Tyner picked the Ducks over LSU. And I couldn't help but think as I watched the Eagles led by a hobbled Michael Vick that Kelly's offense isn't going to truly fly until he gets his style of players in the key positions.

Marcus Mariota, the Eagles will wait for you to finish your college career. But yeah, that already sort of feels like a little bit of destiny.

The Eagles aren't some broken-down operation. They underachieved last season, winning just four games under Andy Reid. Vick demonstrated he can still play in the opener, but I can't see him making it through the season healthy and no matter what Kelly says, this offense isn't built for back-up Nick Foles any more than the Ducks were built for Justin Roper. It can work in a pinch (See: 2007 Sun Bowl) but it's not a final answer.

America got a formal introduction to what the rest of us in the Northwest knew years ago --- the Kelly offense isn't a gimmick. It's a system, designed to spread the field, quickly distribute the ball and create maximum pressure on the defense. The team that executes more efficiently will always benefit from a larger sample size of plays run, and so this is why it's to the Eagles advantage to run their plays rapidly.

It's the same logic that applies to the house in the casino.

The Eagles will get along OK this season (8-8 or so), but the real development is going to come in free agency next off-season where there's sure to be a nice line of talented players waiting to do what Garner said he wishes he could have done in Kelly's offense.

It's the angle that Kelly has over a failed college-to-NFL coach such as Steve Spurrier, who put up 31 points in his NFL coaching debut, but finished with a 12-21 record. Spurrier wasn't even allowed to pick his quarterback, and had No. 1 pick Patrick Ramsay forced on him by owner Daniel Snyder.

Kelly will get his kind of talent. Nobody knows better than he what types of offensive lineman, and receivers, and backs he needs. If you were among those who noticed that former Duck Jeffrey Maehl got in on two plays in the debut, you weren't alone. Also, he'll get his prized quarterback, and I suspect when Mariota, a sophomore at UO, decides he's ready for the NFL, Kelly is going to do everything in his power to land the guy.

Mariota, 19, is better than Vick in the offense right now.

Ducks offensive coordinator Scott Frost told me after the opening game of the season that he wouldn't trade Mariota for any player in the country. Kelly will get along with Vick, and try to make it through the season, but ultimately, his long-term success is going to be tied to finding his own quarterback who can take the no-huddle, fast-paced blur of an offense to the next level.

America thought the opening act was impressive

Even as I graded the evening a raging success for Kelly, I'm not sure the outcome was more than a C-level by his standards. And that had everything to do with a 33-year old Vick, and marginal receivers such as Riley Cooper and others, running around dropping passes.

Washington didn't necessarily figure the Eagles out. Philadelphia should have been ahead 40-0 at halftime, though. The typical Kelly execution wasn't there.

The important question isn't whether the Eagles were solved, rather, how long can Kelly wait for Mariota, who has two years of college eligibility after this season?

Had to shake my head during the first few minutes of the opener. The NFL thrust Kelly on center stage, with Monday Night Football, playing a road game against a divisional opponent. Kelly looked a little wide-eyed on the sideline during the opening drive, but settled down nicely. He got through the game, got a victory, and even as Vick said after, "I feel like I could play another four quarters," he barely got through the opener.

I imagine Kelly encountering a slowed-down version of Vick at this point of the quarterback's career feels a little like a hobbled, nearly 31-year old Arvydas Sabonis coming to the Trail Blazers.

I imagine Vick will one day look at the Eagles in retirement and feel just like Garner did.

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