Philadelphia Eagles have a lot of room for improvement

The Philadelphia Eagles' season have been over for a while now, but let's take a look at how the 2015 team performed compared to the NFL average and see where improvement is needed. The organization clearly felt Chip Kelly wasn't the right guy to fix things moving forward. Here's a closer look at the team Doug Pederson is inheriting.

GENERAL

The Eagles gave up more points and yards than they amassed. They also turned the ball over more than they took it away. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that this isn't a recipe for success.

OFFENSE

After taking a step back in 2014, Kelly's offense declined yet again last season. The offense ranked above average in volume stats (yards per game) but it was well below average in efficiency (yards per play). Despite pass protection being above average, the team's interception was too high due to the struggles of Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez. It's up to Pederson to make this unit better. At least the offense was slightly above average when it came to converting on key downs. Maybe that's something to build on.

DEFENSE

These numbers clearly aren't great, and that's understating it. They don't tell the whole story, though. The Eagles had a very good defense for the first half of the season. It ranked No. 2 overall in DVOA heading into Week 10. A big reason why Philadelphia's defense fell off a cliff is due to the tempo of Kelly's offense. The fast pace that Kelly runs is always bound to make his defense's volume stats look really bad. It's the opposite effect of how it makes the offense's volume stats look better. If you look at yards per play, however, the Eagles weren't AS bad. With that said, there's still a ton of room for improvement. The Birds need a more effective pass rush, which could lead to an improved pass defense. Third down and red zone situations were way too easy for opposing offenses. New defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz needs to get that fixed as well.

SPECIAL TEAMS (FOR):

Thanks to Darren Sproles, the Eagles once again had one of the NFL's best punt return units. He's such a big weapon there. The kick return unit, meanwhile, wasn't very effective. Josh Huff has shown the ability to take it to the house but he wasn't very threatening last year. When it came to field goal percentage, the Eagles were unfortunate to lose starting kicker Cody Parkey for the season. They had to rely on Caleb Sturgis, who struggled early on.

SPECIAL TEAMS (AGAINST):

This is a big reason why the Eagles kept Dave Fipp around. Their ST coverage units have been very good under his guidance. Click here for a more detailed special teams breakdown. Tight end Trey Burton was a big part of Philadelphia's success on these units.

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Now a look at some unconventional stats.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS

The offense was worse than you thought. The defense was better than you thought. The special teams was about as good as you thought.

PRO FOOTBALL FOCUS

Some of these rankings are curious. Run blocking looks way too high and special teams is way too low, for example. Other areas such as receiving and rush offense look about right.