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Chip Kelly must make changes to Eagles defense

Philadelphia had some flaws on the defensive side of the ball last season, and some personnel changes may be necessary in order to address them.

By Steven Muma
Rich Schultz

The Philadelphia Eagles have a new head coach in Chip Kelly, and CSN Philly's John Gonzalez has a few words of advice for him. Among those tips -- fix the defense. Philadelphia had plenty of issues on that side of the ball during the 2012 season, as Gonzalez notes.

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The Eagles allowed 27.8 points per game last season. Only two other teams -- the Saints and Titans -- were worse. They couldn't get pressure on the quarterback and they didn't make plays in the secondary. You could make a strong case for getting rid of a lot of defensive players.

Philadelphia had trouble getting off the field, allowing opponents to convert nearly 41 percent of their third downs. The Eagles defense compounded matters by committing 118 penalties, which was the sixth-highest total in the NFL.

Some defensive changes are almost certainly in store for the Eagles in 2013 and beyond, because in addition to a new head coach, they also have a new defensive coordinator. Billy Davis recently joined Kelly's staff to run the defense, and Bleeding Green Nation has a breakdown of what might be different about the Eagles now that he is on board.