If Chip Kelly or Jeffrey Lurie, or both, needed some reassurance that Kelly is the right man for the Eagles job, beating Bill Belichick has a way of providing that.
The Eagles' 35-28 victory over Belichick's Patriots kept the Eagles in the NFC East race at 5-7. More importantly, Philadelphia showed it can play with the league's elite teams.
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"Guess those fire Chip Kelly signs can be thrown out with the Christmas lights that don't work anymore, either," NJ.com reported.
"No, this was one of those days for the Eagles to remember. A day when (Sam) Bradford outplayed Brady. When the Eagles defense, torched for 90 points by the Tampa Bay Bucs and Detroit Lions the past two games, deflated the Pats' offense.
"When [assistant coach] Dave Fipp's special teams reverted to 2014 form when they were the best in the league.
"And most of all a day when Kelly outcoached Belichick."
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Even before the game, Kelly may not have been as likely to depart Philadelphia as earlier reports suggested, according to CBS Sports.
"Despite months of rumors and speculation, Chip Kelly is likely to be back with the Eagles next season, according to team and league sources, and ownership has no plans to move on from him," CBS Sports reported.
"... [Owner] Lurie is very loyal and believes in Kelly long-term, even if players have their concerns, and he did not hand Kelly total control to the roster a few months ago to consider launching a new search for a coach and GM now."
No question, the Eagles caught the Patriots at the right time; New England's invincibility pierced with a loss at Denver last week and playing without the likes of Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Dion Lewis on offense.
But that doesn't matter to Philadelphia, which will have continuity at least through the offseason leading up to 2016.
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