Chaos. Confusion. Excitement. Arousal. All of those terms (minus the last one) can be used to sum up the first day of free agency in the NFL.  Also referred to in many circles as Adam Schefter's wet dream, the first day of NFL free agency represents an opportunity to change the fortunes and direction of many franchises.  Some teams make it rain and spend a ton of moolah on the best available players, while others laugh and just pick up a couple players of need and build through the draft instead.  

While there are many shiny new toys ready to be purchased, the buyer better beware before investing their money in these players.  Every year, we see some teams (cough cough Dolphins cough cough) give a star free agent a ton of money, only for it to blow up in their faces as the team doesn't improve and their cap space shrinks.

Overall though, I think the Eagles did a pretty good job on day 1. I know that in today's NFL that day 1 is really stretched over the prior two weeks and today is just the day a lot of these deals just get finalized today, but the Eagles came in with a strategy and executed it well over the first fortnight of free agency.  

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The Chip Kelly era officially came to an end on Tuesday night when the team released him and Ed Marynowitz, vice president of player personnel.

Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur will take over coaching duties for the Eagles' final game on Sunday against the Giants.

"I spent the last three seasons evaluating the many factors involved in our performance as a team," Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie said in a letter to fans. "As I watched this season unfold, I determined that it was time to make a change."

The USA hockey team beating Russia was a more likely prediction than what transpired on the field tonight at Gillette Stadium.  After letting up 45 points to the Buccaneers and Lions in consecutive weeks, the Eagles somehow decided to play to their potential and defeated Bill Belichick and the Evil Empire.  The special teams and defense set the pace for the Birds and the offense did just enough to keep them afloat, as the Eagles won 35-28.   

Early in the fourth quarter of Sunday's match at Dallas, rookie linebacker Jordan Hicks picked off a Matt Cassel pass and returned it 67 yards for a touchdown, a touchdown that proved to be huge en route to an overtime win.  Hicks had been making huge plays all season, but that Hicks Six was one of the more crucial plays of his young career.  However, we will have to wait until next year to watch Hicks play again.

As the bye week came to a close, it brought some very good news for Eagles fans.  Yes, the Giants and Cowboys both lost close games, but it also brought about the return of Kiko Alonso and Nelson Agholor to the roster.  Both return just in time for Sunday night's match against the Cowboys.

The Eagles entered the half down 14-6, and immediately went down 21-6 after a 2 yard catch from Mike Tolbert.  Tolbert is a big man; he is tough to bring down and he has likely never missed a meal in his life.  It was his second total touchdown of the game, with the first coming from a rush in the first quarter.  The Eagles offense answered back with a touchdown of their own on a 63 yard Ryan Mathews run.

This will be the shortest Eagles first half recap hopefully this season.

The Eagles looked like shit in the first half. The Panthers marched right down the field on their first possession to score a touchdown with ease.
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Sam Bradford followed that by being picked off on the first play of the next drive. Nolan Carroll would bail Bradford out, however, by picking off Cam Newton on the first play of the Panthers' next drive. The receiver may have been down, but I'm not complaining.