Now that Chip Kelly has been fired as offensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders, there have been some eye-opening leaks. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero dropped a damning report about Kelly’s preparedness for games.
“It just seemed like from Week 2 on, teams just kind of caught up with what the Raiders were doing,” Pelissero said on a recent episode of “The Rich Eisen Show.” “And there are all kinds of different stories, Rich, about the dysfunction of the Raiders offense.
“There were times I was told where Chip Kelly was repeatedly botching the play calls. For instance, tagging a motion on a play—so the receivers are on the left, not the right—and he forgets to say it. Geno Smith goes to the line of scrimmage thinking, ‘This doesn’t look right,’ while they’re trying to run the play. It even happened on a third down in the game the other day.”
Kelly has been coaching and calling plays for decades, so it’s a major issue if what Pelissero is reporting is true. However, there’s some dispute regarding how true the report is. According to head coach Pete Carroll, the Raiders did not have issues with Kelly’s playcalling ability.
“There is no truth to the comments about Chip and any play-calling issues,” Carroll told the Review-Journal in a text message.
Kelly Likely Done in NFL
Regardless of whether or not Carroll or Pelissero is telling the truth, the results speak for themselves. The Raiders’ offense played very poorly under Kelly’s direction.
The fact that Kelly also struggled during his previous stints in the NFL proves that he’s simply a better bit at the college level. He’s proven to be a great college coach, but there are plenty of great college coaches who don’t cut it in the NFL.
It’s difficult to see another NFL team wanting to give him a job after this Raiders stint.
Raiders Want to Run Ball More
With Kelly gone, longtime NFL assistant Greg Olson is taking over playcalling duties. Unlike Kelly, Olson is a coach who is going to run the ball early and often.
The Raiders face the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13, and Carroll wants to see the team move the ball on the ground.
“Scores have a lot to do with that, yeah,” Carroll told reporters Wednesday. “Falling behind, that’s what gets that in that kind of slant. Look what happened to these guys, the Chargers last week, and their ball game. The same thing, because we both would like to run the football, but you go down 14 and 17, it’s really hard to stay with that.”
One player who loves the idea of a more consistent running game is rookie running back Ashton Jeanty.
“Run the ball, play action, it’s really gonna be all the stuff we’ve been doing,” Jeanty said of what he expects from Olson’s offense. “Hopefully, we can be more efficient with the ball and score some more.”
Jeanty’s rookie season has been disappointing, but the Raiders haven’t been giving him a lot of chances.
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