Chip Kelly meets the media Thursday afternoon at the combine. (WEEI.com photo)

INDIANAPOLIS — The two fastest offenses on the field this season were Oregon and the Patriots, and so it’s no surprise that former Ducks coach Chip Kelly — who was recently hired as head coach of the Eagles — would be linked to Bill Belichick.

On Thursday at the scouting combine, Kelly called Belichick an “iconic” coach, and said he had plenty of chances to talk with Belichick while he was working as a college coach. Part of that was because of Kelly’s local ties — he is a New Hampshire native who went to UNH and coached there as late as 2006.

But another part of it was just made good sense.

“I know coach Belichick — I’m from New England, and so I spent a lot of time going down as a coach when they opened up practice for college coaches to come down and visit and talk with them, and I’ve always asked them questions,” Kelly said. “But I didn’t talk to coach about coming to the NFL. I didn’t talk to coach about what to expect in my first season. It’s … he’s one of the iconic coaches in this profession, and obviously, his record speak for itself. When you’re around people like that, you do a lot more listening than you do talking.”

At the same time, Kelly made it clear that he’s been able to pick up a variety of different things from different coaches over the course of his career.

“I don’t know — I think we’re all byproducts of our experiences,” Kelly said. “Whether your visiting coach Belichick, or I went to OTAs with Joe Philbin las year. I went with Chan Gailey in Buffalo. I’ve been to see Jim Harbaugh at the 49ers. I’ve been to see Pete Carroll in Seattle. All those guys have been gracious to let me come watch practice. Obviously, I’ve learned things from watching other teams practices, but there’s not one I’ll rely on more than another.”

Heath Evans

NFL Network analyst and former Patriot Heath Evans spoke with Mut & Merloni on Friday about Sunday’s Pats-Ravens matchup.

Evans noted that while Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco clearly is capable of the high caliber of play he showed in the last two weekends, he’s also capable of struggling.

“Look at last week alone,” Evans said. “The guy throws two interceptions, basically, in overtime that were just dropped. If you’re going go talk with Bill [Belichick] in a private room, everyone knows what Joe’s capable of, but we also know what he does every single week. Every single week there’s two or three plays that change the course of the game. Sometimes they’re made, sometimes they’re dropped.

“Last week against Denver, which never should have been in overtime, if you ask me, he throws two easy interceptions that the plays just weren’t made by that Denver defense.”

In light of that, Evans said the Patriots defense can and should pressure Flacco into making a crucial mistake.

“My thought is, give Vince [Wilfork] a shot of adrenaline and tell him to ‘Go win this game all by yourself,’ like he’s done in years past against half the teams they play,” Evans said. “I would just kind of sit back, put the weight of the world on the DBs and say, ‘Between you and Vince, you guys are going to win this game. Flacco’s going to give you guys the opportunity to win the game, and you’ve got to make at least one of them.’ Give Tom Brady one extra opportunity and he’s going to win this game.”

Evans said the Patriots secondary, with a different look than it had when New England lost to the Ravens in the regular season, will be a determining factor in the game.

“That’s what gives me hope that we see them in New Orleans here in two weeks,” Evans said. “You cannot compare the back end, and honestly … I can point out so many areas where [Brandon] Spikes is playing better, [Jerod] Mayo we know, but this defense is not the same defense. Obviously Chandler [Jones], his health is going to be key, kind of like they’re waiting for John Abraham there in Atlanta. But the defense that Joe Flacco was getting ready to play was totally completely different than the Week 3 one that he had some nice success against.”

Read the rest of this entry »