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Chip Kelly's Philadelphia Eagles were dismantled on Thanksgiving, 45-17, by the Detroit Lions. It was the second straight game in which the Eagles gave up 45 points. The loss was bad enough to raise questions about Kelly's effectiveness as a coach and personnel evaluator. After dropping to 4-7, Kelly didn't have many answers.
Chip: "We didn't coach well. we didn't do anything well."
— Reuben Frank (@RoobCSN) November 26, 2015
Chip: "We've for five games left and we have to go play. we don't have any other choice."
— Reuben Frank (@RoobCSN) November 26, 2015
The Eagles played with little fire Thursday. The secondary, in particular, put up little resistance to Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, who caught three of Stafford's five touchdown passes on the day. The Eagles' offense didn't do much of anything, either, gaining just 227 total yards -- fewer than what the Lions had gained by halftime.
After going 10-6 in each of his first two seasons with the Eagles, Kelly has some leeway despite the increasing heat on his job. The Eagles' front office may be regretting its decision to give Kelly control over the team's personnel, however. Kelly's offseason acquisitions have largely failed to pan out this season. Sam Bradford hasn't been a significant improvement over Nick Foles, DeMarco Murray hasn't produced behind a bad offensive line, Kiko Alonso has been hurt and Byron Maxwell hasn't lived up to his wealthy contract.
Kelly noted during his press conference that the Eagles can still make the playoffs, and he's right. The Eagles are just 1.5 games behind the Giants in the NFC East for the moment with five games to play. After giving up a total of 90 points in less than a week, however, the Eagles are trending in the wrong direction.
Have Eagles players quit on Kelly? It's hard to say. As SB Nation's Stephen White pointed out, he doesn't seem to be inspiring them much. The Lions game should be a rallying point for the Eagles. Left tackle Lane Johnson called out his teammates after the game:
Lane Johnson: "You're gonna see who the quitters are now." Says he hasn't seen team quit yet.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 26, 2015
How the Eagles respond could dictate the fate of Kelly, who has done everything he can to shape the team in his image.