'Holy Trinity' could take Eagles to new heights

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The collapse of a regime seldom leaves any areas of clarity. Chip Kelly's exit from Philadelphia is an exception.

The emergence of a "Holy Trinity" - Sam Bradford, Jordan Matthews and Zach Ertz - rose above the losing and the rumors and the 7-9 debacle.

The Eagles went 2-2 down the stretch and fired their coach, but they have something special here. They went 0-2 when Bradford missed two games. Bradford is a free agent they cannot afford to lose.

"You saw how it really affected us," Matthews said of Bradford's absence. "I think it showed how much he means to this offense and this team."

In a hurricane of dysfunction Bradford, at 6-4, remained above the fray. He was productive, cementing an uncanny relationship with big targets - Matthews, 6-3, and Ertz, 6-5, ignoring the noise and doing their jobs, never better than Sunday in a 35-30 finale win over the Giants.

It was amazing they were able to concentrate on the game. Consider the confusion:

* Milquetoast owner Jeffrey Lurie subverted Kelly and gave impassioned pregame and postgame speeches to his team at New England. On the plane ride home, Lurie listened to complaints from demoted running back DeMarco Murray about Murray's diminished role. The next week, Lurie issued T-shirts emblazoned with "53 Angry Men."

* The following week, Matthews, who is the only viable wideout on the team, was threatened with a benching by Kelly during the game for spinning a football after a reception. Matthews called mentor Cris Carter, a former Eagle, for counsel. Carter told Matthews he should "Listen to the King. But the King isn't going to be there much longer." Matthews said he cleared the air with Kelly.

* Kelly also insisted that Lurie move the annual holiday party from a Monday to a Friday, according to CBSSports.com - an astounding example of how Kelly's audacity consumed him at the end.

* Ultimately, Lurie fired Kelly on Tuesday night, 5 days before the season finale.

For the Big Three, the beat went on.

Matthews caught seven passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns. Ertz caught nine passes for 152 yards. Bradford went 30-for-38 for 320 yards and two scores, a team-record 78.9 completion percentage in games with at least 30 attempts. A drop by Matthews on the team's second possession likely would have meant 81 more passing yards and another TD.

"You just saw a good example. When they're in rhythm, they open the field up for us," said tackle Lane Johnson, another cornerstone of the offense. "(Ertz) can catch the ball just as good as Gronkowski or anybody. He has a knack for getting open."

Ertz is in his third season and, said Johnson, has become a better run-blocker against defensive ends. Matthews is in his second. Bradford just completed the best season of his star-crossed, 6-year career.

They are a foundation around which a contender can be built. Don't dismiss them as benefactors of a bad division. After all, they caught 160 passes without much support from other receivers; the rest of the teams' tight ends and receivers managed 117 catches. They hooked up time and again despite working with a lousy offensive line.

It took 12 games - 3 months - for the Eagles to create this synergy.

Matthews caught 24 passes for 336 yards and four touchdowns in the last four games. Ertz caught 35 passes for 450 yards and a touchdown. Thirty of those catches came in the last three games, the best three-game stretch for a tight end in team history.

Bradford went 118-for-173 for 1,308 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions in the last four games, but only one was egregiously bad. Bradford compiled a 92.4 passer rating and a 68.2 completion percentage, and he did so while running for his life and taking some hellacious hits.

To review: 50 percent of Bradford's completions and 60 percent of his yards in the past four games have come from connecting with Matthews and Ertz.

The cleanest instance of their synchronization Sunday came early in the fourth quarter, holding a one-point lead. Bradford saw Matthews defended a certain way, and Matthews knew it was his time.

"The numbers he's been able to put up at the end of this season have been phenomenal. I'm 6-3. When we get in the red zone, you've got to dial me up," Matthews said. "We've been working on some of those things all year. Now, we're getting in tune with each other. Right there, Sam's giving me the eye. Saying, 'That guy's giving you inside leverage. I'm coming to you.' I already knew. Be patient. Give that guy a move. Then win."

He won; a 3-yard score that sealed the win.

This has been building.

Ertz' 75 catches this season ranks third for Eagles tight ends. Matthews caught 85 passes, fourth in team history.

Not bad. Just imagine what could be.

Imagine how attuned they could become if they spent an entire offseason working together. Last winter and spring, Bradford was coming off a second consecutive knee injury, which delayed his availability to work out fully until summer. Then, precautionary, Bradford took just 32 snaps in preseason games.

Ertz missed the entire preseason with a partially torn groin muscle. He caught just 10 passes in the Eagles' first four games.

Both Ertz and Bradford missed Game 11 with injuries. The Game 12 win at New England had more to do with special teams than special connections.

And then . . . click.

"After he came back from his shoulder injury and I came back from the concussion . . . we came back with a vengeance," Ertz said. "The chemistry definitely built."

It is a formula Matthews loves, and a formula many teams use. Odell Beckham and Julio Jones might excite the senses, but Rob Gronkowski, Jason Witten and Jordan Reed provide sounder, safer foundations.

"You can look at how Zach is. Most passing offenses go through a tight end. That's the new wave," Matthews said. "You start in there and you build out. He's the perfect building block."

It doesn't matter whether interim head coach Pat Shurmur, a former tight ends coach who was Kelly's offensive coordinator, stays; or whether another offensive mind enters, like Sean Payton, who made Jimmy Graham a star in New Orleans.

"A lot of tight ends are focal points of the offense," Ertz said. "If that's the case going forward, I'll be really excited about it."

He'll be more excited if Bradford remains to deliver the ball.

"I want to keep him around," Matthews agreed.

For a franchise with so little stability, that just makes sense.

On Twitter: @inkstainedretch