Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Murray might not be a Giant factor
DeMarco Murray owned the New York Giants last year.
Murray rushed for 249 yards in two games, going over the 100-yard mark in each start as the Dallas Cowboys swept the Giants.
With the Eagles, Murray isn’t the leading rusher. He’s run for 130 yards in four games, trailing Ryan Mathews, with 205 yards.
What a difference the scheme makes.
“I think the biggest challenge is obviously not playing that many snaps in the rotation we have,” Murray told reporters this week. “It’s also a challenge that I’m not — Dallas you can get 80, 90 plays a game, so I think those offensive lines, you get more plays, more reps and even more opportunities. I think it goes hand-in-hand. Obviously, if we’re able to convert more third downs than we’ve been able to do in the last couple games, get more plays and different guys are able to get more opportunities.”
With Mathews nursing a groin injury leaving him questionable, Murray almost certainly will get more work when the Eagles entertain the division-leading Giants Monday night.
Murray got untracked last week as he had 20 rushes for 81 yards and a touchdown to help the Eagles to a 39-17 win over the New Orleans Saints.
This isn’t the Giants defense Murray terrorized last year. The Giants allow just 3.5 yards per rush, first in the league.
Then again, why run on the Giants when it’s so easy to throw? No team surrenders more passing yards than the Giants, who hand them out at a clip of 304.2 yards per start.
The run defense, just the same, is anchored by former Eagles defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins and coordinated by Steve Spagnuolo.
“I think Cullen Jenkins does a real good job stopping the run,” Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson said. “He’s kind of crafty. Sometimes he’ll kind of play it like J.J. Watt does, he’ll back-door some plays. Cullen doesn’t abide by the rules of football. Sometimes he goes up there and kind of freestyles and it makes it difficult to block him because you don’t know what he’s going to do. He does a good job of creating havoc.”
Johnson and the Eagles’ offensive line are coming off one of their strongest games of the season. The Eagles ran for 186 yards on the Saints.
Despite the health issues of Mathews, Murray might not get the kind of work he used to get against the Giants. With the Cowboys last year, Murray had 24 rushes for 128 yards and a score in a 31-21 triumph at AT&T Stadium and 24 runs for 121 yards in a 31-28 success at MetLife Stadium.
“I think I’m getting adjusted, I think they’re trying to implement a few things that I’m used to,” Murray said. “But offensively we have so many weapons and we have such a mass of plays that we’re able to call out at any given play, no matter who’s in the game. I think that’s an advantage for us.”
Murray needs to average 156 yards in each of the last 11 games to exceed his NFLleading total of 1,845 rushing yards last year. Obviously it’s going to be next to impossible to get there.
Winning the division, however, is still within reach.
A different team has won the NFC East in each of Murray’s four years. With a win over the Giants (3-2) — and a little help from their division friends — the Eagles (23) could be standing tall when the next work week starts Tuesday.
“Every game is important in the division because every game is close and at the end of the year everyone is fighting to get that last win and see who’s in the NFC East championship game,” Murray said. “I think, for me, I know how important the game is. I’m sure everyone else knows how important it is.”