They're running it on every down, in every situation, against every defense.
How exactly do you stop the Eagles' running attack?
Maybe you just don't.
Eight games into the season, the Eagles are averaging 175 rushing yards per game – 2nd-most in the league through Week 9 behind the Ravens – and their 36 carries per game is the 2nd-highest figure by any NFL team in the last 30 years through eight games. The Steelers were at 39 in 2004.
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That’s not just the last month. It’s the entire season. Even with the offensive line healthy for only three full games, the Eagles have become an unstoppable force on the ground.
“We’re all working in this unit,” Mekhi Becton said. “We do mate blocking every day – double-team blocking every day. I feel like it's starting to become second nature to us and we’re starting to get comfortable with the man beside us. It's just repetition. Just reps. Just keep doing it.
“Me personally, I'm very confident with the guys that we have on this line and the running back that we got back there. So it doesn't really matter (what a defense does). For me personally, I'm confident.”
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During their four-game winning streak, the Eagles have taken the running game to a new extreme. They’ve averaged 196 rushing yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry (4.9 after removing kneel downs) with eight touchdowns.
The Eagles are the first team to open a season with 1,398 rushing yards, a 4.9 average and 14 rushing touchdowns through eight games since the undefeated Super Bowl-champion 1972 Miami Dolphins.
If it feels like 2022 it should. That team rode a big-time running attack, outstanding defense and efficient passing game to the Super Bowl.
The Eagles aren’t quite there yet, but the formula is the same.
Saquon Barkley is playing like a Hall of Famer, and he's got an elite offensive line carving out holes for him week after week.
“It’s definitely a good thing to have because nobody knows what’s coming,” Becton said. “There's still things we’ve got to build on we're never going to be perfect but we're not where we want to be at, so we’ve just got to keep working at it.”
Although the production has been there all year, one thing did change at the bye week and that’s play caller Kellen Moore going with far more running plays on earlier downs.
That’s made the offense less predictable and prevented defenses from teeing off on Jalen Hurts.
The four games before the bye, the Eagles ran on first or second down 48 percent of the time. The last four weeks, that’s gone up to 64 percent.
That’s a significant change in the way the Eagles are doing things on offense, and it’s paying off.
“We are constantly trying to evaluate our rhythm throughout each and every game,” Moore said. “It felt like some of the run game on early downs has generated some very positive situations. I feel like we've put ourselves in more manageable third downs because of how we've played first and second down.
“The play-action game is still critical to those situations. I think when you are able to tie those two together from a presentation and a threat standpoint, huge advantages. We are running the football well at times. So when you do have that ability to control the line of scrimmage, and our guys can just run off the ball and play physical, you definitely want to embrace that.”
Not surprisingly, Hurts has been a model of efficiency during these four games, completing 72 percent of his passes with six TD passes, six rushing TDs and no turnovers. He’s one of only three quarterbacks in history with six TDs passing and rushing in any four-game span and the only one without any turnovers.
This is a key matchup for Sunday - the Eagles’ running attack vs. the Cowboys’ run defense. This is the 2nd-ranked rushing game in the league vs. the 30th-ranked run defense. The Cowboys are allowing 148 yards on the ground per game.
Don’t be surprised if the Eagles run it more than 40 times to try to neutralize Micah Parsons and the Cowboys pass rush, control the clock and wear down the under-manned Dallas defense.
“We've worked so hard in the offseason trying to build that chemistry,” Fred Johnson said. “We’ve had new guys, we’ve had injuries, and we just keep working and building, and it's just one of those things, like, the fruits of our labor are finally being sown.”
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