Five Big-Picture Takeaways From Eagles Week 9 Win Vs Cowboys

2.) The Running Back Rotation Seems to be Coming into Form

Nov 8, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back DeMarco Murray (29) leaves the field after the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Philadelphia won in overtime 33-27. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Looking back on the week two loss in Philadelphia to the Cowboys, it’s incredible that one element of their game could look significantly worse than the rest. That’s how awful the Eagles rushing attack appeared in the 20-10 defeat. The Eagles finished with 17 rushing yards as a team and former Cowboy DeMarco Murray  had just two on 13 carries. It was as disastrous a showing by a facet of a team’s offense as one could remember.

Heading into Sunday night’s game, the rushing attack had seemed to gain its footing. Even with folks clamoring for Ryan Mathews to see a majority of the touches, Chip Kelly had stuck to his guns when it came to the distribution in the backfield as far as carries went. With major question marks on the outside and Bradford still working his way towards competency, the running backs would be leaned upon heavily if the offense hoped to move the ball. Sunday may have been as close to the mental picture that many Eagles fans had as far as a three-headed rushing attack to this point this season.

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Murray finished with 161 all-purpose yards, including 83 on the ground and a touchdown. Mathews collected 67 yards on just 11 carries and a trip to the end zone of his own. Even Darren Sproles contributed on the ground game with 23 yards on five carries. Running behind a re-shuffled offensive line, the trio of ball-carriers each seemed to serve their role to a tee. Sproles provided some nice punch in the second quarter, including a run near the goal line to position the team for its first touchdown. Mathews showed the type of speed and assertive running that opened up the team’s outside zone game and prevented the Dallas defense from taking advantage of offensive trends like they did in the first game.

Most importantly, Murray served as the four-quarter workhorse the Eagles paid top dollar to acquire. Murray rattling off late game first downs in both the pass and run game was just the confidence boost needed for a battered offensive line. On the flip side, seeing the back who ran his way to a rushing title for them in 2014 come up with big play after big play against them likely sapped the confidence of a Cowboys defense that likely came in riding high to Sunday’s showdown. Here’s an interesting stat, courtesy of CSN Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank.

The offense will likely have to continue to lean on its stable of running backs for a good chunk of their offensive production. The receiving corps has its limitations and Bradford seems especially comfortable utilizing them in the pass game. Given what the organization committed to the backfield during the offseason, it shouldn’t be an issue if they feature the group prominently on the ground and in the air. There aren’t many teams with the personnel capable of shutting down that type of attack if it’s utilized as such. Murray brushed off the importance of winning with this type of performance against his former team. One would have to think fans of Dallas are singing a different tune.