The Eagles' offensive line has been a mess, but Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk believes DeMarco Murray's struggles are also due to a faulty scheme.
"The scheme and what they’re trying to do doesn’t fit the personnel," Faulk said on NFL Network. "DeMarco Murray is the kind of runner that is a downhill guy. You keep his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage and he is going to get you yardage. They have him turning his shoulders to the sideline and they’re trying to get outside, and it doesn’t fit his running style.”
Faulk didn't exonerate the offensive linemen — "They're not getting off the ball," he said — and Michael Irvin blamed the scheme for their problems too.
"You cannot schematically practice finesse and hope that it produces aggression. It's not going to happen," Irvin said. "You want to practice aggression, you’ll produce aggression and that’s what you’re seeing. All of those linemen running sideways and everything, you brought DeMarco in so you can go at people and run downhill at people and then add on a passing game. You don’t have that running game and you don’t have the passing game. They were horrible in the passing game.”
Which brings us to the Hall of Fame cornerback in the group, Deion Sanders, who sees one critical problem with the passing game.
"You don’t have any threats outside. I can’t name a receiver that could threaten any team outside the numbers that causes you to draw attention or put double coverage or even go cover-2," Sanders said. "So you’re looking at an eight-man box basically to stop the run.
"These guys, they’re all over the place right now. They don’t have an identity. What has Sam Bradford ever done to make me want to trade multiple players for Sam Bradford? I like the kid, this is not a personal attack on him but I’ve never seen him take a team to the next level. That’s what Chip Kelly wants, that’s what Philly wants and that’s what Philly deserves: to go to the next level."
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Kelly won the power struggle with former GM Howie Roseman and was given final say on all roster decisions. This is what Kelly wanted, but with all the power comes all the blame if it goes wrong. These are his players. This is his scheme. Whether you blame the personnel upheaval or the way in which the new acquisitions are being implemented, it all falls on head coach Chip Kelly.
"Asking if it’s Chip Kelly’s fault is a crazy question because Chip has already said all of the chips stop here," Irvin said. "He’s making all of the decisions so it all has to come down on him."
All of that said, it's only September. The Eagles have 14 games left, and the NFC East is a wide open race.
"We’re a little premature on everything we do in the NFL because we’re all tied in," Sanders said. "Let’s give him time. But right now it looks bad."