Murray mindful of Carolina’s run defense
Panthers held Seahawks’ Lynch to 54 yards last week
PHILADELPHIA >> If it hadn’t been for the New York Giants, Birds running back DeMarco Murray would have gone into Sunday’s game at Carolina with fewer rushing yards than Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.
Now, that would have been embarrassing for the defending rushing champ.
Instead Murray, who had a dozen 100-yard games last season with the Cowboys, erupted for 109 yards and a touchdown to carry an offense stuck on interceptions to a 20-point victory.
Despite a spate of giveaways, the Eagles (3-3) find themselves hot and taking on one of the hottest teams on the circuit in the Panthers (5-0).
Murray hasn’t forgotten the 0-2 start.
“We know we have a lot of work to continue to do,” said Murray, who leads the Eagles with three TDs. “Obviously we had a huge win last week and we’ve got to
make sure we carry on with that. And we’ve been able to prepare tremendously these last couple days and had a great day of practice today. I think we’ve got to continue to just do the little things right, continue to work hard throughout the course of the week, make sure we’re watching a lot of film and knowing the tendencies of the defense and whatnot and making sure we’re giving ourselves a chance to win on Sundays.”
That’s a lot of stuff on the to-do list, and for good reason: The Panthers have one of the top defenses in football.
It goes beyond tackling machines Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis, who are the face of the unit. Sean McDermott, the long-ago defensive coordinator of the Eagles, has injected a Philly street-tough attitude into the players along with head coach Ron Rivera, who also cut his teeth as an assistant coach under Andy Reid.
“I think we’re just playing as a team,” Kuechly said during a conference call this week. “All three phases are doing a good job. Maybe if one phase isn’t doing so hot the others are stepping up and it’s like we’re really playing together as a team and playing together. When stuff’s not looking good for us we don’t panic.”
Murray, Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles would be smart to have their heads on swivels this Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.
Kuechly, who missed three games with a concussion, played every snap this past week in a 27-23 comefrom-behind win over the Seahawks in Seattle.
It seemed like all 14 of the tackles came against Marshawn Lynch, who was in beast mode but with nowhere to go. Lynch had 17 carries for 54 yards. It’s not like the Hawks abandoned the run.
“It’s a challenge obviously,” said Murray, who has rushed for 239 yards on the season compared to 225 for Newton. “Those are two top premier linebackers in the NFL. And whenever you get a chance to compete against players of this caliber I mean, you look forward to it. We’ll have our hands full. We’re excited about the challenge. But we know what’s at stake.”
With Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford having thrown five interceptions in the last two games compared to just four the rest of the season, the Panthers will be looking for Murray, Mathews and Sproles.
“I think they ran the ball really well,” Kuechly said of the Birds’ Monday night performance. “I think they kind of got in a groove. I think DeMarco looked great. I think you’ve got Sproles in there. I’ve played against him quite a few times and Ryan Mathews. Each one of those guys has a little bit different style of running. And I think that’s something that’s a challenge. You can get used to going against one guy and then they put somebody else in. I think you’ve really got to take into account who’s in the game. Is DeMarco in the game? Is Ryan in the game? Is Sproles in the game? Because everybody kind of runs it a different way and you have to understand that or he’s going to run by you, he’s going to run through you or he’s going to run around you.”
“When you can run the ball the pass opens up. The run is big for them and I think they’re doing a good job of it.”
Mathews leads the Eagles with 245 rushing yards and a 4.9 average per carry to go with two TDs. Sproles has 111 yards and one TD.
The 6-5, 250-pound Newton is averaging 4.5 yards per rush and has gotten into the end zone three times for the Panthers, who have run more than any team in the league. He’s also thrown eight touchdown passes against just four interceptions, two of the picks coming last week.