Frustration builds for McCoy as Eagles' running struggles continue

LeSean McCoy showed his frustrations on the sideline during the Panthers game. He was atypically subdued immediately after the Monday night contest and even a day later during his radio show despite the Eagles' 45-21 landslide victory.

McCoy was still ornery two days later when he met with reporters in advance of Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers.

It's no secret why the running back is frustrated these days. He's averaging more than a yard less per rush this season than he had in his first five years in the NFL, and with so little on the Eagles to criticize, McCoy has taken the brunt from nitpickers.

But it says here that they're wrong.

McCoy certainly deserves his share of blame. But a confluence of factors - from offensive line injuries and execution to defensive game plans and talent - is why the Eagles' rushing attack has gone from the league's top-ranked unit last year to 20th in yards per carry this season.

"I say how good I am or I say how bad I'm doing . . . it doesn't matter," McCoy said last week when asked about those who have come to doubt him. "The other teams, obviously, they feel a certain way. My team does, too. That's all that matters."

For the first time since prep school, when he was out of shape and buried on the depth chart, McCoy is facing prolonged adversity on the football field. The first four games this season were a struggle, as he averaged just 2.7 yards a carry. He rebounded over the next four and averaged more than 100 yards a game.

But against the Panthers, McCoy found himself back where he was during a two-game stretch in late September, when he was limited to just 1.3 yards a rush. He managed just 19 yards on 12 totes and did little to conceal his disappointment even though the Eagles moved to 7-2 a year after they were 4-5 at the same juncture.

"I think the individual goals and achievements are always second," McCoy said Thursday. "We're winning games and being a successful team, so that's all that really matters at the end of the day. I mean, sure, I would like it different. I think every player would like it different.

"But the main focus and the main thing that matters the most is that we're winning."

McCoy isn't alone in his frustration, though. Center Jason Kelce expressed his displeasure with his performance in his second game since returning from sports hernia surgery. Chip Kelly, despite his offense's scoring 31 of the Eagles' 45 points, said on Tuesday: "We didn't play well offensively at all."

The coach often says the Eagles run an equal-opportunity offense that will more than gladly take what a defense gives it, and on Monday night that's what it did, as quarterback Mark Sanchez threw for 332 yards. But Kelly wants to be successful on the ground, not only for season-long balance, but because he is a perfectionist.

McCoy is also a stickler. He has said that he and Kelly will often text back and forth to commiserate when the run game isn't working, but mostly they exchange ideas in the search for improvement and perfection.

Monday night's performance was particularly maddening because the Panthers defense entered ranked 31st in the league and because they defended the Eagles differently from what they had shown on tape, McCoy and Kelce said. But it wasn't the first time an opponent had one of its safeties in the box.

On Tuesday, Kelly said the Panthers "played a lot of guys down toward the line." Two days later, he said, "They didn't have an extra guy down there." The interpretation here of Kelly's about-face is that he realized the Eagles saw similar attempts to crowd the box last season. They just had better execution.

"We didn't stay on blocks as well as we can stay on blocks, and we didn't run the way we need to run," Kelly said. "So, it wasn't a schematic thing, it was just us [not] executing."

On McCoy's fourth carry of the game, the Eagles had decent numbers in the box - seven on offense vs. eight defenders - but when right tackle Lane Johnson was pushed back and left guard Evan Mathis tripped over a defender as he pulled to block, a chain of events led to the tailback's losing 4 yards.

A play later, the Panthers had seven vs. the Eagles' five linemen and only two defenders outside against a packed set of three receivers. Sanchez had the option to throw a bubble screen, but handed off to McCoy rather than take advantage of favorable numbers. McCoy was dropped for no gain.

Of McCoy's 173 carries this season, 48 have been for no gain or lost yards. Last season, he rushed for less than a yard on only 55 of 314 carries.

Later in the Panthers game, the Eagles had six-on-six numbers and ran a sweep. McCoy had an initial lane but instead bumped outside and was angled out of bounds after picking up 2 yards. Hesitation and a lack of confidence in his blockers seem to be more of the issue than a lack of explosion.

But questions about the 26-year-old's condition persist.

There was one other prominent reason for the Eagles' ground struggles - reserve running back Chris Polk managed just 11 yards on five carries - and that was middle linebacker Luke Kuechly. Johnson said it appeared that Kuechly knew where the Eagles were going with each carry.

A few linemen said the same thing about 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis following a September loss and about Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee after a loss last year. McCoy wasn't as despondent after those games as he was last week.

"It doesn't really matter how I feel about it," McCoy said. "We're trying to get to that ultimate goal."

They need the real McCoy to get there.

@Jeff_McLane