The references that the sack is sometimes overrated ‑‑ what measures do you use to determine how effective he is?

COACH KELLY: Can you move the quarterback off balance, is he completing the ball; are we pressuring him; are we not letting him get his feet set; is he disrupting the timing of the play.

Where would you say the O‑Line is compared to when this group first got together at the start?

COACH KELLY: 13 weeks older.

What do you see progression wise from them?

COACH KELLY: I think I've seen them grow as a group and it happens with any team.  So them getting to know Coach [Jeff] Stoutland and what he's teaching and what he brings to the table. And the biggest consistency is that they have always been healthy and all had an opportunity to play together.  You're starting to see similar looks when they are playing and how they are trying to defend you, and it's been a huge plus for us.

I think one of the reasons we've been successful offensively is that all of those guys have been successful.  I've seen them over time, they have grown as a group together and that's a positive for us.

Riley Cooper and Brent Celek did a low-five on the crossing route, what was the reason for that?

COACH KELLY: They like each other.

The reason for it though.

COACH KELLY: Ask Brent.

The defensive line on the Lions, they have a reputation of being physical and even dirty at times.  Do you kind of have to ‑‑ do you guys have to kind of be aware of what kind of stuff they might do and how much of a concern is that?

COACH KELLY: That's not a concern.  Our concern and the reputation I know about those guys is that they are outstanding football players and they play extremely hard and you'd better buckle it up and get ready every play against those guys.

You talk about similar looks.  Do you find defenses still focus on taking away LeSean McCoy?  Is that really the way most teams come in to play?

COACH KELLY: No, everybody is different in terms of how they do it.  You can run with it if you want, but I think it's kind of, they play into their strengths and really from a looks standpoint, we are going to see a four‑down front against the Detroit Lions.

Really where the change ups occur during the game is with the coverage and how are they going to handle the back end in terms of how are they getting people closer to the box, are they playing more man, how that aspect works.  But people are not really changing up their fronts against us.

Since Nick Foles started a few weeks ago, what area or areas do you think he's most improved?

COACH KELLY: I don't look at it that way.  I've seen a growth from him in all facets so I don't think one area more than the other area.  There's a comfort level.

As you're starting to call plays, he can finish a play call.  He's got that comfort level because he knows what formations are matched within the game plan.  I think he's really taking a lot of ownership from what we're doing here.  But I don't think there's one that's more than the other, and there's been overall improvement in everything he's done.

With the 12 personnel, do you notice defenses staying on their base or going on their nickel, or does it change as the season's goes along?

COACH KELLY: No, every team is different and every game's different, that's why we approach each game like a season.  How the Redskins responded to us was maybe different than how the Cardinals responded to us.

There's not a lot of carryover because you have two entirely different entities and two people making decisions that are not the same.  The Cardinals staff isn't going, hey, this is what the Redskins do, let's do what they do.  They are going to do what their answer is, and that's what you find out during the game what their answer is.

Is that the reason why a lot of teams are making it so difficult for defensive coordinators to find the right personnel to match up against that?

COACH KELLY: I don't know why people do it.  Sometimes people match, sometimes people don't match.  I mean, that's a question more for defensive guys than offensive guys I think.

Did you have an idea of how your offense would function as this level and how does that relate to how you're operating now? How close is it to the ideal because of the way Foles is playing?

COACH KELLY: I don't have an ideal.  Our goal, very simply, is to move the ball and score points.  We never ‑‑ I don't really care what it looks like.

And the offense we run here is not the Oregon offense.  It's the Philadelphia Eagles offense that was put together by a group of really smart guys on the offensive side of the ball and everybody contributed to it.

So there's some things we did at Oregon and some things that Jeff Stoutland did at Alabama; there's some things that Bob Bicknell did at the Buffalo Bills; there's some things Billy Lazor brought from when he was in the NFL and when he was at Virginia.  There's things Pat [Shurmur] brought from Cleveland.  So it's all of us putting it together.

You've been asked a lot the last couple weeks about the big receivers, Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson, but to see a small receiver like DeSean Jackson having a season that he's had, what does that say about receivers that are not 6‑5 or 6‑3?

COACH KELLY: I mean, it depends on your production as a player and sometimes obviously there's things that height has to do with it.  But, you know, there's not many guys that run like DeSean or can catch the ball like DeSean.  I think he doesn't have ‑‑ what he lacks in height, he makes up in all the other categories.

When the game starts and you start taking a look at what the other defense is doing in terms of either matching or playing man or whatever, is it common for teams not to show you what their real intention is early and then have you adjust to what they are doing and then they flip to what they really want to do?

COACH KELLY: That's way too smart for me.

I don't think it's too smart for you.

COACH KELLY: I don't see that, and I know as a play caller we don't do that.  'Hey, I'm going to call three [poor] plays in a row and let them think the next one is going to be [poor] and then we're going after them.' (Laughter)  That's not my mentality.

That's what I meant, I'm not smart enough ‑‑ now, you may think there are some ‑‑ hey, write that.  If there's a [poor] call on Sunday, just say, 'Hey, he's setting them up. We knew what he was going to do.'

By accident, would you call three poor ones in a row ‑‑

COACH KELLY: Totally by accident.

You've only scored seven points in each of the last second halves.  How much of that comes down to adjustments in the game?

COACH KELLY: It comes down to everything.  Yeah, we want to score points in the fourth quarter, but also cognizant [of] two things going there.  You're also trying to work the clock at the same time, and there's two games, Tampa Bay game, Green Bay game, we did a good job of it.

There's other games we didn't.  I don't think we scored any points in the fourth quarter of the Oakland Raiders game, but it didn't matter at that point in time.

You've been calling plays for a long time.  Are you different now than when you first started doing it in New Hampshire and before that, is there a process?  Do you like where you are now?

COACH KELLY: I'd better like where I am now, because this is where I am.  I've always believed play calling is based on your personnel.  You're trying to get your players in positions to make plays, and you have good days and bad days, just like players have good days and bad days.

Is it difficult to call plays when you're on the field?

COACH KELLY: No, I've been on the field my whole life except for two years at Oregon when I was a coordinator and I was in the box.

Why is scoring at the end of the half such an emphasis?

COACH KELLY: I don't know ‑‑ we try to score on every possession so I don't think there's an emphasis on the end of the half more than there is on any other part of the game.

Do you remind players during the season that when you guys are this far deep and the playoffs are within reach, do you have to consciously remind them about not looking ahead too far and focus on the Detroit Lions?

COACH KELLY: We meet every week at the beginning of the week and talk to them about the plan for the week and that's it.  That's what we've done since day one here, and I think they understand that.  We have a bunch of guys that understand the game and have been around it for a long time.

I think that if I have to tell them how to think, we have the wrong guys in here.  When we meet, there's a purpose to our meeting, so if I'm making stuff up, who is our opponent, what are they going to do, what are the keys to victory and let's go play.

Brent Celek said he appreciated that you called him when you drafted Zach Ertz and signed James Casey. Why did you decide to do that and what was the reaction from him when you made the two moves?

COACH KELLY: He was fine.  I called everybody.  When we drafted Lane, I talked to Jason Peters and Todd [Herremans], who our tackles were at the time.

When we signed free agents, we called the other guys at those positions on the team.  For me, it's part of the process.  They are involved in this team and I think they should understand what direction we are going in and why we are doing things.

Mike Tomlin got a hefty fine yesterday.  Regardless of his intention, how aware are you where you are at times on the sideline, and what does that fine mean for you going forward?

COACH KELLY: I understand Mike. There's times where you're not aware and you're kind of like, 'Oh, I'm on the field,' or 'I'm in the white.'  I mean, I've been there before.  I've gotten hit in college and gotten a penalty for it but I wasn't paying attention.  I think you have to pay attention.  It was unfortunate.

Was that a wake‑up call yesterday seeing what could happen?

COACH KELLY: Yeah.

Brad Smith, how has he picked things up since coming here?

COACH KELLY: Very well.  One thing about Brad that struck me from day two here was how much he retained from just his first meeting.  He's extremely smart, a very, very intelligent football player and I think his background is kind of interesting, because he was a quarterback.

So he learned things kind of globally growing up, so he could tell you ‑‑ a lot of times receivers know what route they run on each individual play, they don't know what everybody else is doing.  Well, Brad has always learned it from the eyes of a quarterback and I think that helped him in his ability to pick things up.

In his reps at wide receiver, do you see him playing a role going forward as a receiver?

COACH KELLY: Oh, yeah.