No need to worry about McCoy

As much as things have changed for LeSean McCoy during his second season in Chip Kelly's run-oriented offense, a surprising number have stayed the same - despite dire reports to the contrary.

It's true that McCoy's overall yardage production is down compared with his league-leading performance of a year ago, but it's also true that when teams turn their defensive schemes inside-out in order to stop him, the Eagles offense stands to benefit.

"It's a different team, different circumstances. We're not here chasing the rushing title. We're here trying to win games," guard Evan Mathis said. "Some games we haven't run the ball well and haven't had to run the ball well. If some of the [defensive] adjustments open up the pass game, then we pass the ball. We're playing football."

All of that logic and explanation have been thoroughly chewed over as McCoy has run into holes that closed quickly, bounced outside only to find the sideline, and stutter-stepped waiting for openings that never appeared.

The opponents, according to the coaches and players, routinely bring a safety to the line of scrimmage to bolster the run defense and that, along with a good deal of turmoil on the Eagles offensive line, has accounted for an average run that is approximately 40 inches shorter than what McCoy produced during the first 10 games last season.

Sunday against Tennessee, the Titans are expected to place both safeties closer to the line on many occasions - a "cover zero" scheme that leaves all the receivers with man-to-man coverage and dares the quarterback to do something about it. Mark it down as another game in which McCoy might not gain a lot of yards but after which everyone will have a ready excuse as to why.

"I know this. We're still a top-five offense in this league [fourth, actually], and we're passing the ball extremely well. But we're still top 12 in running [14th this week]," receiver Jeremy Maclin said. "When you have the best running back in the league and you led the league in rushing, things aren't going to be as easy the next year. I think it will be good for him in the long run. He's still capable of carrying the load. He's still the same guy."

A close look at the statistics from last season and this season not only supports that view, but indicates that McCoy might actually be better now than he was a year ago.

"We're aware they can run the football and run it well," Tennessee coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "They're dangerous. At any point, they can create an opportunity where they can explode."

That is coach-speak, but it is also accurate. After 10 games a year ago, McCoy had rushed for more than 80 yards in a game four times. This season, after 10 games, he has rushed for more than 80 yards five times. The difference is that McCoy had games in the early part of last season in which the Eagles pounded the ball against certain pliable opponents and piled up relatively easy yardage.

This year, because of defensive adjustments and blocking inconsistencies, the yards have been tougher. But McCoy is still on pace to gain nearly 1,200 yards and to finish easily among the top 10 running backs in the league. If that's a downturn, it's not much of one.

The truth is that last season's stats are more of an anomaly than the current ones. His final numbers were skewed by a few big games, including a 217-yard game in a blizzard against Detroit in which McCoy took advantage of defenders who were water-skiing without skis.

Thus far this season, despite the hand-wringing to the contrary, McCoy has been fine. He carried the ball 193 times through 10 games in 2013 and gained 932 yards. Through 10 games in 2014, he has 196 carries for 729 yards. The difference is not in big gainers - he had only three runs of 20 yards or more in each set of games - but in the 6-yard gains that were 8-yard gains a year ago.

The film shows McCoy getting through the initial set of defenders most of the time, only to be met quickly by second-level tacklers. Against the Packers last Sunday, when McCoy ran 23 times for 88 yards, eight of the tackles were made by the defensive line and 15 were made by linebackers or the secondary. It didn't matter if McCoy lined up to the left or right of Mark Sanchez in the shotgun, or directly behind him when the quarterback was under center, the result was much the same. There were yards to be gained, just not a lot of them. Not as many as last year.

"Everything that's happened as far as yardage, I'm going to earn it," McCoy said. "I'm going to earn everything I get this year."

He has, and then some. What he hasn't gotten is the same credit for those yards. That might change in the final six games of the season, beginning Sunday against Tennessee's low-ranked run defense.

McCoy is still the same runner, but the year and the team have changed. He isn't to blame for that, but that's not the way this thing works.