Eagles Need Improvement from LeSean McCoy, Ground Attack to Balance Offense

Whether it’s been Nick Foles or Mark Sanchez, the Philadelphia Eagles have received less than stellar play from the quarterback position in 2014.

Following the club’s 53-20 blowout loss to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, skepticism in the club’s current crop of signal-callers only figures to grow in the days and months ahead.

Whether Sanchez remains at the helm for the remainder of the season or Foles is reinserted upon his recovery from a broken collarbone, the Eagles will continue to struggle at QB if they can't rely on dynamic performances out of LeSean McCoy, much less consistent success from their running game.

Sanchez didn’t look anything like the savior some were painting him as or otherwise hoping for desperately, completing 26 of 44 passes for 346 yards with two touchdowns and four turnovers in the loss.

Of course, it was hardly all his fault, with little help from the defense and even a special teams breakdown putting added pressure on the offense.

Receiving merely ordinary production from McCoy—if you could call it that—didn't help, either.

YR	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
2014	196	729	3.7	2
2013	314	1,607	5.1	9

The two-time All-Pro back finished with 88 yards on 23 carries versus the Packers, which may not look too bad on the surface, but was not nearly enough to keep his team in the game.

More than 10 of those runs came in the first half, before the outcome had been decided, but gained just 34 yards—a 3.1 average—while only one went for a first down.

This was against the NFL’s 30th-ranked rushing defense entering Week 11 and comes six short days after a worse performance against a similarly porous unit. The Carolina Panthers were 26th versus the run heading into their meeting with the Eagles, but they limited McCoy to 19 yards on 12 attempts, albeit in a 45-17 loss.

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Simply put, that is not how the Eagles built a 10-6 record and won the NFC East in 2013.

Philadelphia ranked No. 1 overall on the ground. McCoy led the league in rushing. As much as Foles made headlines with his historic campaign, everything came a heck of a lot easier through the air when McCoy was eclipsing the century mark every other week.

McCoy had a built-in excuse for much of the first half of the season. Philadelphia’s offensive line was battling multiple injuries and absences. All-Pro left guard Evan Mathis, dynamic center Jason Kelce and second-year right tackle Lane Johnson have all since returned, though. Only right guard Todd Herremans—the group's supposed weak link—is missing now.

It’s somewhat understandable the line may need some time to get back into sync after not playing together for months at a time. Then again, these are bad defenses that shut down McCoy. It’s perfectly reasonable to want and expect more.

GM	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
Wk 9 @ HOU	24	117	4.9	0
Wk 10 vs. CAR	12	19	1.6	1
Wk 11 @ GB	23	88	3.8	0

There have been whispers about McCoy himself perhaps lacking some of the explosion or elusiveness that made him special last year. It’s difficult to prove, and past film studies have shown there really hasn’t been any place to go a good portion of the time.

Even with that being the case, and the patchwork offensive line being a big part of the problem earlier in the year, skeptics can easily point to Darren Sproles’ success on the ground this season. Sproles is averaging 6.8 yards per carry to McCoy’s 3.7, which suggests there should be room for McCoy, too—either that, or the offense needs more Sproles.

So far, head coach Chip Kelly has shown little willingness to increase Sproles’ workload. The 10th-year back has just 38 carries on the season, and no more than three in a game over the Eagles’ last three. At 5’6”, 190 pounds, there is no doubt some concern Sproles could break down with a significantly larger role.

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

McCoy is the workhorse in Philadelphia’s offense, so it would be better to figure out what’s wrong there.

He’s only 26 years old, so it’s hard to believe it’s decline. Perhaps it's the result of a nagging injury, such as the reported turf toe he battled over the summer.

Defenses have also stacked the box or otherwise keyed on stopping the ground attack, daring Foles or Sanchez to beat them through the air.

Despite an excess of turnovers, they’ve often been able to do exactly that.

All excuses aside, the running game as a whole has simply failed to produce at a satisfactory level. It’s hurt the offense all season, but it was a major factor in Philadelphia’s latest loss in particular.

The Eagles were 5-of-15 on third downs against the Packers, in part because McCoy wasn’t creating easily manageable distances. Every punt was another opportunity for Rodgers and a Green Bay offense that is almost unstoppable right now. That put Sanchez in a position where he had to try to put the team on his shoulders even as they were falling further and further behind.

Say what you want about Sanchez, say what you want about Foles—one labeled a bust in New York, the other still with only 24 career NFL starts—the Eagles quarterbacks have been asked to do far too much this season.

If Philadelphia is going to have a real go at opponents like the Packers come the playoffs in January, their field generals almost certainly need more help from the cavalry.