Chip Kelly says there is one key thing wrong with the Eagles: execution.

I think he’s right.

To many people, this comes across as some kind of excuse. That is not the case. Poor execution is the answer. There is no excuse.

Think about three critical errors from Sunday. Darren Sproles dropped a pass on 3rd down that would have put the Eagles at the WAS 40 in the 4th quarter. Jordan Matthews dropped a 3rd down pass late in the game that would have kept a drive going. Nelson Agholor lined up incorrectly and that cost the Eagles a TD late in the 1st half.

Sproles is a terrific receiver with 433 career catches. He normally snatches that ball. Matthews is coming off a very good rookie year and has played well this season. Normally he makes that catch. Agholor might be a rookie, but not lining up on the line of scrimmage with a TE to your side is basic football that goes back to his days as a kid. Agholor is a smart player. He should have paid attention and moved back.

Those three simple errors might have been the difference in winning and losing. Basic execution. You aren’t asking players to do something they can’t. You aren’t asking them to go above and beyond.

The situation would be very different if Trey Burton had a key drop. He doesn’t have an extended history as a pass catcher in college or the NFL. It would be different if DeMarco Murray was split out wide and lined up incorrectly. He’s not a guy that does that very often.

Think back to 2012, painful as that might be. Andy Reid got too cute in some key situations. The Eagles threw a goal line pass to OL Matt Tennant, who dropped it. The game was close at the time, but Cincy went on to take control of that game. In a late season game against Washington, Reid designed a pass play to go to TE Evan Moore, who had been with the team less than a week. Certainly the defense wouldn’t expect him to be the target on 1st and goal with 11 seconds left. Moore was open, but couldn’t make the catch.

Those were technically execution errors because the design of the play worked, but the design was flawed because it didn’t take into account who the players were and what was asked of them.

Kelly isn’t asking players to do something they can’t. For some reason, players are simply making mistakes.

Identifying the problem is fine, but solving it is the tricky part. I honestly don’t know how you do that.

How do you get a baseball player out of a slump? You go over the fundamentals, but at a certain point it is up to the hitter to see the pitch and make a good swing. Kelly trusts his players. He will keep throwing to Sproles and Matthews. He expects them to deliver most of the time.

The frightening thought is what if the team keeps screwing up. We could be looking at 2007 all over again. The 2006 Eagles were good. The 2008 Eagles were good. The 2007 team was not good. They were the masters of losing close games.

GB – Torturous loss. RZ issues. Takeo Spikes dropped an easy INT. Greg Lewis failed to field a punt late in the game and the Eagles lost 16-13.

WAS – The Skins got a TD late in the half (weird circumstances). The Eagles drove deep late in the game, but Kevin Curtis couldn’t hold on to a pass from McNabb and they lost 20-12.

CHI – Torturous loss. Eagles were 1 for 4 in the Red Zone and led 16-12 with 1:57 left. Bears started at their 3-yard line. They drove down for the winning TD and won 19-16. Incredibly weird play in the game. From ESPN:

The Bears caught a break in the fourth on a bad snap that seemed disastrous, but instead turned out to be only a 5-yard penalty. On an apparent bit of miscommunication, the snap sailed through Griese’s legs and was recovered by safety Sean Considine, who took off running.

Because the ball was snapped beyond a quarterback under center, the play was whistled dead and Chicago was hit with a false start. The Bears settled for Robbie Gould‘s 45-yard field goal that ticked off an upright for a 12-9 lead.

NE – Banged up Eagles at great Pats. No Dawk. No McNabb. Eagles played terrific, but AJ Feeley threw 3 INTs, including a pick-six to Asante Samuel. Lost 31-28. Led in the 4th quarter.

SEA – Torturous loss. Feeley was 19 of 42 and threw 4 INTs. Eagles trailed 28-24 late. Brian Westbrook ran a punt back to the SEA 10 with 1:16 left. Feeley was picked off to seal the game.

NYG – Eagles led ugly game 10-6 in mid-3rd. Giants scored 10 straight points to go up 16-10. Eagles got inside the 10-yard line, but had to settle for a FG. David Akers had 57-yarder to tie with seconds left, but just missed.

The Eagles finished that year 8-8. They were 5-8 before winning the final three games of the year. The team started 0-2 and didn’t get back to .500 until they were 5-5. That team was only blown out once all year (DAL 38-17), but they made crucial mistakes that kept them from winning.

Sound familiar?

Kelly has to figure out which buttons to push to get the current Eagles to snap out of their funk. At a certain point, people will quit caring why the Eagles are struggling. All they will talk about is the struggling.

There is a ton of time left in the 2015 season, but the Eagles can’t afford to keep digging this hole deeper. Things are tough enough at 1-3.

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