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PHILADELPHIA – With the Philadelphia Eagles proposing a rule change to make two-point conversions easier, a strange little misconception has taken on new life. That is, that Chip Kelly is gung-ho to go for two after scoring a touchdown. In 2014, the Eagles scored 54 touchdowns. They attempted (and made) 54 point-after kicks. In 2013, Kelly’s first season in the NFL, the Eagles attempted a total of eight two-point conversions. They were successful three times. That is a bit more willingness to try for two, but hardly the go-for-broke attitude that many expected to see from Kelly. His apparent desire to make the two-point conversion half as difficult – by moving the line of scrimmage from the 2- to the 1-yard line – will keep that false assumption alive.  It’s not clear where that assumption even came from. Kelly was known to try for two earlier in games at Oregon rather than sticking to the fourth quarter, like most coaches. But he simply didn’t do it all that often.
In 2012, Kelly’s last season at Oregon, the Ducks were 4-for-6 on two-point conversions. That’s right: The team scored 89 touchdowns that season and tried for two just six times. In 2011, Oregon scored 88 touchdowns. Kelly went for two after just seven of them and was successful five times. Things were about the same in 2010. The Ducks scored 81 touchdowns and went 7-for-8 on two-point conversions. That’s a reasonable number of gambles on two-point conversions. It is hardly the stuff of some wild, common-wisdom-scoffing iconoclast. But that’s how Kelly’s image has differed from the reality ever since he got to Philadelphia. His offense is innovative, but Kelly himself says he isn’t doing anything that offbeat or risky. He is deeply committed to running the ball, for example. Compared to Kelly, Andy Reid was an off-the-charts, pass-happy maniac. In Philadelphia, with a reliable kicker (something he didn’t always have at Oregon), Kelly has been content to take the easy point and move on. If the NFL had approved the Eagles’ proposed rule change and made two-point conversions easier, maybe we would have seen a different approach from Kelly in 2015. Even from the 2-yard line, he might find it tempting to let Tim Tebow try for two occasionally. But expecting Kelly to toss the coach’s manual out the window and do whatever strikes his fancy is a losing proposition. He hasn’t been nearly as unconventional as his reputation said he might be.
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