Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The decision to replace Rob Ryan with Monte Kiffin as the Dallas Cowboys‘ defensive coordinator was a moronic one and now the Cowboys’ rivals–the Philadelphia Eagles–have taken advantage of it. When Chip Kelly was announced as the new head coach of the Eagles, it meant his dominance of Kiffin will now carry over to the NFL.
While Kelly was the head coach of the Oregon Ducks, he absolutely owned Kiffin’s USC Trojans defense, putting up more yards and points than the previous year in each of their three meetings. In 2010 (Kiffin’s first at USC), the Ducks scored 35 points and compiled 462 total yards. The following year, Oregon finished the game one yard shy of 600 while tallying 53 points. This past season, the reality that the game has passed Kiffin by was more evident than ever: Oregon recorded 730 yards of total offense and 62 points.
Those numbers are difficult to achieve while playing a football video game on the easiest level. The fact Kelly dominated Kiffin each year in even more resounding fashion than the previous only forecasts horrendous things for the Cowboys in 2013 and beyond. It remains to be seen whether Kelly’s lightning-quick, zone-read spread offense will work in the NFL, but he picked the right team with which to experiment.
The Eagles have a superstar, versatile running back in LeSean McCoy, who can fill the role of the Heisman Trophy candidates Kelly had at Oregon. Whether Kelly utilizes Michael Vick or Nick Foles as his quarterback is uncertain, but either will work just fine because he has a speedster in receiver DeSean Jackson that he can use in those “special” situations. So basically Kelly got the closest thing to what he had at Oregon in the Eagles.
If Kelly’s domination of Kiffin spills over to the NFL in Dallas and Philadelphia’s two annual meetings, it could be a long few years ahead for the Cowboys. Of course, that’s probably the case anyway considering the fact Ryan was replaced by Kiffin. Only the Cowboys could have made a move so unintelligent at the most inopportune time.
Jeric Griffin is the Director of Content for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JericGriffin, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
