LeSean McCoy Has Played Poorly, but He's Due to Break Out Against the Giants

Through five games, LeSean McCoy has yet to reach 100 yards rushing. He has only managed one rushing touchdown so far. The issue is not about a lack of touches; his 94 attempts so far this season are second in the NFL, trailing only DeMarco Murray.

The issue is that McCoy has just not been productive. He has averaged just 2.9 yards per attempt. Last week, he finally bounced back, to some degree, rushing for 81 yards off 24 carries for 3.4 yards per carry.

But McCoy is poised to break out in Week 6. The best time for him to do so is against the New York Giants' 12th-ranked rushing defense.

It's no coincidence that McCoy's performance improved last week. Against the 49ers, Jason Peters was the only offensive lineman playing his natural position. With Lane Johnson back at right tackle, Todd Herremans was shifted to right guard, effectively giving the Eagles three out of five starters back on the O-line.

Center Jason Kelce remains a significant loss, but a large factor in McCoy's drop in production has been that taking him out of the game has been the focus for opposing defenses. Against the St. Louis Rams, McCoy's fumble came as a result of being hopelessly outnumbered.

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Upon catching the screen pass, McCoy is instantly swarmed by a host of defenders who clearly expect him to be receiving the ball. When defenses are sending extra blitzers to stop the run, as well as taking advantage of a backup center in David Molk, any running back would struggle.

This is not to say that McCoy is not to be blamed for his poor play. Too often, McCoy attempts to do too much. His first instinct is to make somebody miss, rather than hit a hole hard for a few yards like Darren Sproles tends to do.

But what McCoy has going in his favor is that Nick Foles, despite his expected regression from his superhuman 2013, has been more or less productive.

In every game except against the 49ers, Foles has thrown a touchdown. Against San Francisco, with a makeshift O-line, Foles completed only 48.8 percent of his passes. The return of Johnson, and an improved McCoy, increased that percentage to 64.9 against the Rams.

Foles has not been great by any means. His deep-ball accuracy is still inconsistent. However, he has been successful off the play action, which will greatly help McCoy going forward. Against the Rams, a play-action fake to McCoy resulted in a perfectly thrown 24-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin.

And against the Redskins, when McCoy averaged just 1.2 yards per carry, his lowest of the season, Foles had a passer rating of 114.4. As long as Foles continues to produce, defenses will be kept honest.

That will eventually lead to more explosive runs from McCoy. And against the Giants, McCoy will be facing off against a run defense that has allowed 4.1 yards per carry, just 0.1 less than the Jacksonville Jaguars. What better time for McCoy to snap out of his funk than against a hated divisional rival?