After three preseason games there’s one position that jumps out at me as the strongest position on the offensive side of the ball and that’s the running back position. Last night all three of the Eagles running backs, LeSean McCoy, Ronnie Brown and Dion Lewis put on a show when they got out there.
Each member of this group does their job differently, but they’re all very productive when they get their opportunities.
McCoy is the starter and he made plays when Vick handed the ball off to him and also when he threw it to him. I see a patience in McCoy that I didn’t see last year. He’s confident that he can get to where he needs to be, so he doesn’t rush. Regardless of whether it’s a cut he needs to make or when he slipping out on a screen, McCoy takes his time to keep the defense guessing about what he’s getting ready to do.
There are few backs in the league who can change direction the way McCoy is able to do. Again he gives the defense no hint that he’s getting ready to cut back and go in another direction. One of his biggest strengths is his vision. McCoy has no problem cutting a running play back to the other side of the field, if that’s where the hole is.
“I thought we played well”, McCoy said. “We can always do better. For the most part I thought we did a good job. The defense gave us good field position and we took advantage of it and put some points on the board. Right now, it’s all about coming together and gelling together and getting the job done.”
You can tell that Vick has tremendous confidence in the former Pittsburgh Panther. The quarterback doesn’t have to check to see if McCoy is where he should be, he knows #25 is where he needs him to be. McCoy was Vick’s number one target on the night as he dumped the ball to the halfback over and over.
“You can’t be a greedy offense”, McCoy said. “Sometimes you need to take what the defense is giving you. They gave us some stuff 
underneath and we took that. I think as we get more into game planning and scouting, we’ll have more room for different things. Right now I think we look pretty good.”
Brown played his best game last night as an Eagle and you can see that he was more comfortable in the offense than he had been in the first two games. We saw his power and explosiveness when they handed him the ball on the touchdown run. He accelerated when he saw the goalline was running through arm tackles on his way to paydirt.
This former number two pick in the draft is smart, tough with good hands. They don’t miss anything when they have him in the game in place of McCoy. LeSean may have the ability to cut sharper, but he doesn’t have the straight ahead speed and power of Brown.
The third running back on the Eagles roster is Dion Lewis and you can’t help but love watching this young man run with the football. He’s not the biggest or the fastest, but he’s definitely the quickest of the Eagles running backs. He’s able to change direction and do it at full speed, which is supposed to be impossible.
He heads into a hole then takes it outside by exploding laterally which at times enables him to create his own holes.
Yeah, & it doesn’t matter, because Andy won’t run the ball. When they have the full capacity of Wide outs, when Maclin & Smith come back, the RB’s will be lucky to see the ball 20% of the game.
Look for McCoy to have a ton of catches again this year and brown too. DD, you make it sound like a bad thing that they will have 3 stud WRs.
Hey bugsy !! .it is not bad for having 3 great WRS , but is bad when Reid don’t run the ball to have a balanced offense to keep opposing defenses guessing . I can see Reid getting Vick hurt and out for the season real early with his always passing offensive plays and lousy young offense line .Young should keep his stupid mouth shut labeling this a dream team when its more like a squat team .
Does anyone think D-JAx should get his $60-$80 Million Deal still..
If this Eagle OL doesn’t improve and quick, Vick,Young or Kafka won’t have enough time to have the 7 Step Drops and allow the Deep Routes to even develop. I see a lot of dink and dunks with this OL throwing to the RB’s & TE’s . It appears the Eagles will not be able to take advatantage of having all that speed on the outside if you can’t Pass Protect…
The “Young Guns” have quickly become the “Young Blanks”
No way in hell this team wins a superbowl with this offensive line….. And to my boy micah… I told you ronnie would be fine. You said he didnt look right, i disagreed and said he had no where to run. Its a weird day when the oline run blocks better then it pass blocks. Guess andy might have to run the ball more. You know teams have all this film on what we did last year, we should come out this year and pound it some more. I think it would through teams off especially when they are studying tape from last year.
I think the Eagles should trade,release and get rid of all their WR’s and add more OL & TE’s and run a Wing-Back Offense and run the ball 60 Times a game..
Navy does that!!!
Geez – 17 zip at halftime and you freakin wankers still have your panties bunched in wads –
I am convinced only a 172-0 thrashing against the green bay packers with green bay playing there starters all night and vick going 20/20 with 20 TDs and not getting a defender within 5 yards – and running the ball 20 times for 25 yards a carry no penalties and the defense recording a sack and a turnover while completely scaring the other team into submission and every eagle knocking the other person down …
wait – then you will bitch the kicker’s Xtra points were 2.5 inches further left then right and his kickoffs only went 9 yards deep and they tried to run one back and that Reied is fat, banner is cheap and i am sure someone will figure out how Matthews didn’t play that well at MLB but the other 10 guys did all the work for him..
Dawk – really – who the hell watches pre-season game #3 and uses that to determine feasibility of winning the SB –
you guys are not coaches – most of you weren’t even players – you are not personnel or front office people – your time spent watching film and knowing what the actual play call was is non exsistent – stop kidding yourselves –
LOL – DDCar
As soon as I read the headline I was thinking the same thing. What difference does it make? If we had a backfield of OJ Simson, Walter Payton and Jim Brown in their prime Andy would still pass it 70% of the time.
I am so sick of hearing that “short pass is the same as a run” crap. Tell the offensive linemen that, as they get pounded instead of doing the pounding. Tell the QB that as he gets sacked by a blitzer.
BYU – Andy loves to throw it. I really do hope he proves me wrong. But I think he’s another Don Coreyell. He’ll excite the fans, win alot of games. But no championship with that unbalanced play calling.
I remember when Ted Marchibrota had the Unstoppable offense when he coached Burt Jones and Lydell Mitchell. The Steelers had the unmovable object in the Steel Curtain.
The back to back Super Bowl Champs pounded the high-octane Colts offense 40-14, sacking Jones 5 times and intercepting him 3 times. ~~~~~~
Solid football usually wins out over big play offense. Same Don Coreyell and the Chargers. One of the Greatest WR cores of all time.
The Packers showed last year that you HAVE TO BE ABLE to adjust in the playoffs. One of the 3 teams you are going to have to beat to win the Superbowl will probably have the talent to take away your strength.
I hope Crystal Ball Andy sees that. Or the Eagles won’t even beat Chicago. Lovie Smith was interviewed BEFORE he beat the Eagles last year and you could feel his confidence that he would win. There website said that the eagles had the fastest and softest WRs in the league and they would shut them down. They never even gave the running game a 2nd thought. They knew that Andy simply would not run to win the game.
ALL IN? The front office proved they are.
Now I hope the coaching staff is ALL – IN. If a guy can’t play bench him. (shark in the water). If a team is blitzing, wear out their defense with a punishing ground attack. The Steelers took the steam right out of the Eagles with those 14 play scoring drive. “fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Vince Lombardi….Don’t let them pin their ears back and come after your QB every play.
Crystal Ball I can’t wait for the season to begin. The young Dallas head coach is a thinker. He’s is going to attack the Eagles in a logical way. I can’t wait to see if Andy will adjust, or keep trying the same thing and hoping for a different result.
Those 3 makeup one of the best/deepest positions on the roster.
They all can make something happen when they have nothing.
They just make people miss, and even Ronnie has a burst in open space.
With that said, it seems like we are working on our power running game and taking what is there.
Remember, we get all over arty and Vick for going for the home run too much?
Yesterday, we ran real west coast offense, and the Cleveland back 7 on the defense was giving us space and daring us to run/take what was there.
That’s great, working on something new to us, this is what the Patriots, Colts, and Saints do.
We didn’t get the WRs involved much, but they are usually involved in the gameplan come regular season.
Sometimes boring is necessary, and fundamentals are key (drafting a OL in the 1st rd. and throwing short/checkdowns in preseason).
Our o-line seems ahead in our rush offense than in passing, giving our RBs some decent space last night.
We already know what we have with Vick and the WRs (when healthy), and if teams are going to give us space we have to be patient and take what’s there until they make the mistake of sucking up.
If I’m defending this defense and you’re not a fan of getting beat by the blitz (like McDermott in Carolina continues to show he’s not) then you have you 4 DL rush and drop the LBs back to aid the secondary and hope for a forced pass into coverage (like Vick’s 3 picks vs. Steelers)
Beyond this, any worries or concerns about not playing like last yr. is premature and pigeonhole sighted.
It’s all about the big picture and the ultimate goal, and as fans you either need to develop that understanding or you will be a “prisoner of the moment” and contradict yourself a few weeks later.
@navy eagle, this isnt just a basis off of preseason game number 3. This was an issue last season also ALL YEAR LONG! And as we can see is carrying over. They better get it fixed quick
Birdpoop, BSM, thanks for understanding & agreeing with what I was trying to say! Some peoples comprehension on here is suspect at best.
BTW, Bugsy, it doesn’t matter if you have Rice, Moss, TO, Jim Brown & W. Payton on the field at the same time, if you throw the ball 70% of the game, & on top of that, have a horrific O-line, you are very predictable, scare no one & are easy to game plan for! THUS ZERO Super Bowls, for this regime!!! IT is way paste the time, for Andy to go away! Just saying.
Hey Navy , we are talking Cleveland Browns here ,they stink , 6-10 team as the most and with 8 starters out . So 17-0 at the half is nothing to brag about .