Eagles' patched-up line working just fine

Some sour ingredients had been mixed together in the days leading up to the Eagles' showdown with the Dallas Cowboys.

Combine the absence of the Eagles' seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle, Jason Peters (back injury), with the presence of Dallas defensive end Greg Hardy and the assumption was that quarterback Sam Bradford would be pulling himself off the turf quite a bit and that yards and points would be difficult to accumulate.

It seemed logical. The Eagles managed only 226 yards and 10 points at home in a Week 2 loss to the Cowboys, and that was with Peters playing and without Hardy and two other Dallas defensive starters on the field.

The Eagles, however, opted for a little different combination up front in their attempt to replace Peters. Instead of moving Matt Tobin from right guard to left tackle and inserting Dennis Kelly at right guard as they had done twice previously when Peters was injured in the middle of games, they decided to move Lane Johnson from right tackle to left tackle and leave Tobin at right guard, with Kelly coming on to play right tackle.

When asked why they went with that combination, Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur did not provide an expansive answer before practice Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex.

"Just because that's the way we wanted to do it," he said. "We felt like that was our best combination and we felt that was the best way for us to win a football game."

It was the right answer on the field as the Eagles put up 459 yards - the most allowed by Dallas this season - in a 33-27 overtime victory Sunday night.

A lot of focus during the game was placed on Johnson, and rightfully so. The Eagles' 2013 first-round pick was the guy replacing Peters and being asked to handle Hardy most of the night. But when the game ended and Shurmur saw Kelly doing a television interview just outside the locker room, the offensive coordinator grabbed a reporter by the shoulder, pointed at Kelly and said, "He played great."

Shurmur elaborate on that on Tuesday.

"I thought Dennis played extremely well," he said. "Dennis is a big guy and if he gets his hands on you, it's really hard for the defender to separate. I thought our offensive line sort of felt challenged and they went out and did a terrific job and Dennis did a really, really fine job. I thought where he really showed up, took, was on some of our quick throws and then also in the run game I thought he did a nice job."

Watch the film and you can see Kelly throwing key blocks on a number of DeMarco Murray's sweeping runs on a night when the Eagles put up 172 rushing yards against a team that had yielded only 7 to them in Week 2.

Kelly was also forced to deal with Hardy a few times and did so without allowing a sack.

"I just saw him as another player," Kelly said. "I knew what I wanted to do against him on the pass rush and I felt like I did it pretty well. Obviously, I didn't go against him as much as Lane did, so it's kind of a small sample size."

Johnson said he thought Kelly and Tobin played the best of all the offensive linemen after watching the film.

"It was probably the best I've ever seen Dennis play," Johnson said.

Kelly was happy to get a chance to play offensive tackle again. He was a left tackle in college at Purdue and started the final seven games of the 2012 season at right tackle. After failing to make an appearance in 2013 while recovering from back surgery, he got three early season starts at guard - two on the left side and one on the right - before being deactivated for the final 12 games again.

"Knowing if [Peters didn't play] that they were going to put me at tackle, I was a little bit excited just because I do feel more comfortable at tackle," Kelly said. "I think I look better out at tackle. If I ended up playing, I felt better going into it."

Johnson held up his end of the bargain at left tackle, too. Hardy had one sack and a lot of frustration.

"I just get tired of hearing about Dallas in general with everybody talking about how they have the best line, the best tackles," Johnson said. "You saw them this past week getting blown up quite a bit, so I think we all took it personal."

In all likelihood, the same combination along the Eagles' offensive line will have to do it again Sunday against Miami because when practice started Tuesday, Peters was a spectator again. At some point, Peters, 33, is going to stop reporting for work and retire. Johnson believes that is when he will become the permanent replacement.

"Yeah, I think that's what they drafted me for," he said. "I know I can play left tackle. I need some work at it. J.P. is probably one of the best ever, if not the best. I'm learning all I can from him. I just take the knowledge he's given me and once he wants to retire and pass the torch to me, I'll feel fine with that."

For now, the Eagles are pleased that they may have found a short-term solution along the line to win as long as Peters is out.

bbrookover@phillynews.com

@brookob