Another lineman down, yet another win

HOUSTON - It would be an exaggeration to say that cohesion has emerged from the chaos the Eagles' offensive line endured during the first half of this fascinating season. It would not be an overstatement to say that character has defined a patchwork line that has had more combinations than a fast-food burger joint.

"We're winning," offensive tackle Jason Peters said after the Eagles won again Sunday, surviving the loss of another starting lineman to beat the Houston Texans, 31-21, at NRG Stadium. "We've got depth. One guy goes down, the next guy steps up. You just keep rolling when somebody goes down."

The guy who went down Sunday was Todd Herremans. It was somewhat amazing that he was up in the first place. Herremans completely tore his left biceps in the closing moments of the Eagles' loss the previous week in Arizona, but he decided to take on the challenge of blocking the world's best pass rusher - J.J. Watt - and the rest of the Texans' defense anyway.

It may not have been the wisest decision of his career, but it was the kind of move that makes younger players pay attention. A youthful Herremans watched how tough Jon Runyan was, and now he's sending the same playing-in-pain message to the kids in the Eagles' locker room. Never underestimate how much that sort of thing means to an NFL team's culture.

"Todd was doing great until he came out," said center Jason Kelce, who showed his own extraordinary level of hardiness by returning early from sports-hernia surgery after a five-week absence. "I think they were really trying to attack his weak arm, and he was doing a good job for the most part. It will be interesting to see what happens after this game and where he goes from here."

Herremans' final play against the Texans came with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter. He did not leave because of the biceps injury, coach Chip Kelly said.

"Todd, it was his ankle," Kelly said after the Eagles improved to 6-2 and regained hold of first place in the NFC East. "I think it was the ankle on the same side as the elbow, so he was kind of a one-armed, one-legged man."

He'd have probably kept playing if he could have, but even the Black Knight from Monty Python had to surrender when he lost all his limbs.

Andrew Gardner replaced Herremans at right guard. Dennis Kelly, who was inactive Sunday, has played some at right guard, too, but it's impossible to say what Chip Kelly will do when the Eagles play the Carolina Panthers in Week 10. The coach will have plenty of good options because Evan Mathis is expected to return to left guard, which has been manned by Matt Tobin the last four weeks and by Dennis Kelly the two weeks before that.

The offensive linemen insist it does not matter. "Play on" is their mantra, and they proved they could persevere once again against the Texans on a day when the Eagles also lost their starting quarterback, Nick Foles, and their defensive leader, DeMeco Ryans, to injuries.

On their first possession after Herremans left and Gardner entered, the Eagles committed to the run with their up-tempo pace and covered 70 yards in 84 seconds to take a 24-14 lead. LeSean McCoy picked up the first 40 yards on a couple of sweeps around Peters' side of the line. Chris Polk picked up the final 30 yards with one run to the right and an 8-yard touchdown behind two strong blocks from Kelce and Tobin.

"It parted like the Red Sea, and I just hit it hard," Polk said.

Faced with fourth and 1 at the Houston 4-yard line with just over four minutes remaining, Kelly had enough trust in his offense and his run game to go for it. Polk got the first down, and the Eagles got a touchdown on their next play to put the game away.

The Eagles finished with 190 yards rushing, which was their second highest total of the season. Kelly and his men up front felt as if their fast pace wore down the Texans' aggressive defense in the latter stages of the game.

"We had them on their toes, and we just started finishing," Peters said. "They were wearing down. Hands on their hips. We just kept going and wore them down in the fourth quarter."

With Herremans' latest injury, the Eagles may never have the offensive line combination that carried them through all of last season, but they did finally have the running back trio of McCoy, Polk, and Sproles together against the Texans. The three averaged 5.4 yards on 34 carries, and the men up front were excited about it.

"They all offer their own unique running style," Kelce said. "I wouldn't trade them for any three-back rotation in the league right now. All three of them play off each other extremely well, and they all have things that they are good at."

The Eagles were good at winning in the first half of the season, even as they kept losing offensive linemen, and now they are down another.