Is LeSean McCoy Back to Dominant Form After Stellar SNF Performance?

After failing to break 100 yards for five consecutive weeks after having seven such games in 2013, LeSean McCoy surged back to form Sunday night against the New York Giants, carrying the ball 22 times for 149 yards.

He averaged a whopping 6.8 yards per attempt in the 27-0 victory after gaining just 2.9 yards per carry through the first five games of the season.

It was the worst start to a year in McCoy's six-season career, leading some—such as Martin Frank of The News Journal—to speculate that the Philadelphia Eagles might seek to release McCoy after the season as they did wideout DeSean Jackson.

"The Eagles have to decide if the decline is a product of circumstances, or a product of wear and tear," Frank wrote on Oct. 11.

After his resurgent performance Sunday night, releasing McCoy is likely the furthest thing from head coach Chip Kelly's mind.

Given the fact that Philadelphia only faced one opponent with a run defense ranked in the top 10 in the league through the first five games of the season, McCoy's slow start was notable.

Especially when compared to his first year in Chip Kelly's offense, a season in which he rushed for a career-high 1,607 yards on 314 attempts, it was hard not to wonder what was wrong with McCoy individually rather than examining the offense as a whole.

However, McCoy's slow start to the season was largely attributable to the Eagles' offensive line injury woes. 

With starting center Jason Kelce sidelined, backup David Molk started in his place in Week 4 against San Francisco and was in against New York. Backup left guard Matt Tobin and right guard Dennis Kelly also started games this season in place of Evan Mathis and Lane Johnson, respectively.

Last season, the Eagles' offensive line graded out as Pro Football Focus' (subscription required) No. 1 unit in the league in run-blocking with a grade of 139.1.

With the injuries this season, the difference in run-blocking and the subsequent decline in Philadelphia's rushing attack has been obvious.

McCoy had never averaged fewer than four yards per carry in any season in his career prior to 2014, so at 26 years old, it was hard to buy an argument that wear and tear was wreaking havoc on his body and style of play.

By looking at the circumstances around McCoy, in particular the offensive line, the story behind his numbers becomes clearer.

	Career Average	2014 Average	Week 6 vs. NYG
Attempts per Game	15.7	15.7	22
Yards per Game	72.7	45.5	149
Yards per Attempt	4.6	2.9	6.8

So why did McCoy find so much success against the Giants, even though Kelce and Mathis remained sidelined? Even with Molk and Tobin still in the game, the offensive line as a whole looked much more solid, as the second-stringers have had more time to adjust to their assignments. It was also helped by Johnson's return.

Because the blocking by his line allowed him far more north-south running opportunities than lateral ones, McCoy was able to be explosive. 

He got some breakaway opportunities Sunday night that he had been missing so far this season.

His longest carry so far had been for 21 yards in Week 2. Against New York, he registered a 28-yard rush in the third quarter, with three more carries of 18 yards throughout the game.

McCoy has always been dangerous in space, and Kelly's offense excelled in getting him there in 2013. Once the offensive line was able to do that again Sunday night, McCoy's big-play potential came roaring back.

In addition, even though the Giants have allowed just 99 rushing yards on average per game this season, good for 10th-best in the league, they gave McCoy and the Eagles more opportunities than other defenses have so far this season.

New York didn't use seven or eight men in the box on Sunday, and Kelly called plays to exploit what the defense showed him. 

McCoy was involved early and often, including five rushes on the first drive, and got his second-highest number of carries in a game so far this season because of the light box.

Future opponents won't make the same mistake the Giants did, starting with the Arizona Cardinals after the bye, who have the fourth-best run defense in the NFL.

Kelly has to be able to get McCoy going effectively even against seven- or eight-man boxes. Good blocking will be crucial there, so Dave Spadaro of the team's official website reporting that the Eagles may get Kelce and Mathis back in mid-November could help keep McCoy's season heading in the right direction.

Sunday night was certainly a start.