That was the extent of the damage the Eagles’ running attack inflicted upon the Cowboys on September 20 in a 20-10 loss.
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But after a slow start – Murray failed to rush for 40 yards in any of his first three games – his workload and his production have increased.
“And then having the week off helped even more”, Kendricks said. “Especially, because [Cowboys linebacker] Sean Lee said that they won it because of the O-line play”.
“That’s a slap in the face”, Johnson said.
The Eagles brought in two new defensive backs via free agency this offseason – one cost them $63 million and other just $3.25 million.
But after missing all of the 2014 season, Alonso, an Oregon product, has missed the Eagles’ last five games.
In total, the Eagles gained just 226 yards of offense (their worst output of the season) against the Cowboys in Week 2.
Those seven rushing yards came on 17 carries. Murray has 307 yards and three touchdowns on 88 carries through six games. Of the two teams that are a half game behind them for the division lead, the Philadelphia Eagles recently annihilated the Giants on Monday Night Football and get the chance to sweep their inter-division rivals when they visit Metlife Stadium on the last game of the season.
“I don’t look at it like that”, he said. “I just think it’s a few kind of concentration issue with those guys”. At least thus far, Bradford hasn’t had a season that would get him an offer anywhere near this. We had a lot of really negative plays.
Since then, the Eagles have started to figure things out in the run game and hope to carry that success into Sunday night’s game in Texas.
“It felt good”, said Agholor.
If Cox is able to continue making plays against the Cowboys and future opponents, it will go along way in maximizing his season individually and a division title for the Eagles.
The Eagles’ 4.66 yards per rushing attempt since Week 3 ranks seventh in the league during that span.
And Peters isn’t expected to miss too much more time, according to coach Chip Kelly. “We didn’t block well at the beginning of the year”. We’ll have two good practices with him.
Offensive tackle Jason Peters, wide receiver Nelson Agholor and inside linebacker Kiko Alonso all practiced on Tuesday, a sign that all three could suit up against Dallas. Until last week’s game against Carolina, Philadelphia was in the midst of a 18 consecutive game streak of not allowing a 100 yard rusher.
Asked if he thought he could return for Sunday’s game, Alonso was optimistic.
The Cowboys have lost five straight and didn’t score a touchdown in last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, while Philadelphia is coming off a bye week following a disappointing loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Barbre said handling slants and stunts is “something we’ve focused on”, though Johnson acknowledged nobody they’ve played since Dallas has done it as much.
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“Hopefully we’ll get J.P. back tomorrow or the next day”, Kelly said before practice. Sean Lee leads the Cowboys with 61 tackles, Greg Hardy has three sacks and Byron Jones has four pass deflections. “It was all us not playing well up front”.
