1. Chip Kelly's Theory
Have read on here countless times since the hiring of Bill Lazor as offensive coordinator that he won't run any of the stuff Chip ran, because we don't have a Shady McCoy, or their offensive line. Any kind of comment like that tells me that the person saying that has zero clue about the beauty of the Chip Kelly offense. I have been a huge fan of Chip for a long time now, I highly, highly recommend the site Fishduck.com to anyone trying to learn about the offense. You can also check out Fishduck Minute videos on youtube where he really breaks down everything about the offense. Giving you a cliff's notes version of the offense would be to tell you that he doesn't want a 500 page playbook, he wants to be able to master a few key concepts, allowing his players to play fast and with little hesitation. A KISS philosophy, Keep It Simple Stupid if you will. Look for matchups. Create matchups. Ask and you shall receive.
He wants versatile player's who he can then align all over the formation. Through formations, personnel groupings, shifts and motions, he is trying to find, and then more importantly, EXPLOIT your weaknesses. This offense has chunk yards a plenty, and it is by design. You can almost be a puppet master pulling the strings, moving the defense however you please. One of the things I can't wait to see progress are "packaged plays' The bubble screen off of play action to Brandon Gibson vs Atlanta was a beautiful thing to watch. It starts as most Chip play's do, simply counting the numbers, is it a light or heavy box. With the three receivers to the top, Atlanta did not match numbers, so instead of Tannehill going zone read keying on the defensive end, he gives the call for the bubble screen. Matthews goes to the outside CB to block, D Williams runs up the sideline, and Gibson does the bubble action. Stealing really. And the best part is, in regular season, that will be Mike Wallace wide, and all you have to do is throw the bubble a few times, regardless of gain, and sooon enough the D hesitates even a second, and Wallace is by the defense in an instant. This is the kind of stuff that the Chip offense creates. Force the defense to be fundamentally sound, to play assignment football, and take few risks (greater consequences) All of this goes against what a defense wants to do, after the TD drive vs Atlanta, the Falcons announcers begrudgingly said that the defense was on their heels the entire time.
Contrast this with the Mike Sherman offense, where through blue 88 Go, Go Go, my wife could by week 5 of 2012, while at the sink washing dishes, tell if run or pass was coming. Combine that farce with the abysmal talent to protect the QB, or open lanes in the running game, and you have a situation where a defense can pretty much be as attacking as you can possibly be. And Ryan Tannehill still had great success despite these difficult, almost impossible circumstances. So from one end of the spectrum, getting attacked with almost reckless abandon, to having the defense now on their heels and unsure what is coming next, with plays that can make the defense wrong no matter what they do, someone please tell me how this offense isn't about to simply be MUCH BETTER.