The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off an ugly loss to the Carolina Panthers that is forcing head coach Chip Kelly to once again defend Sam Bradford and his decisions with the running back rotation. The Eagles were marred by dropped passes from the wide receivers and a non-existent run game despite the three-headed rushing rotation. Heading into Week 8, is it time for Kelly to make adjustments?
The Eagles are approaching their bye week which gives Kelly plenty of time to look over the rotation between DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles. In Week 7, four players accounted for 177 yards. Mathews led the charge with six carries for 97 yards. In comparison, Murray had 18 carries and 65 yards. This is becoming a consistent story for the Eagles where Philadelphia is trying to "feed the beast" of Murray, but Mathews is still the more productive rusher. Will Kelly make changes? The first thing Kelly did was take the blame off himself.
"Duce [Stanley] is running the rotatation. Some of it is we're calling pass plays. (Mathews was in there for a few passes," Kelly said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Mathews simply told the media that the Eagles have three good running backs and there is only one ball to carry. Fans are likely not happy with the production on the ground. It has been clear over the past few weeks that Mathews must get the ball more. According to Philly.com, the chances of that happening seem slim. Murray has the better resume and there is some pressure to give him more carries since he did vocally request them. Mathews will have to work with what he is getting in the meantime.
"Ryan Mathews, meanwhile, can't get more playing time," Jeff McLane wrote via Philly.com. "On his last carry of the second quarter - with some seven minutes left before the half - he ran for 22 yards. But Murray was on the field for the Eagles' next series, and rushed two times for 4 yards, and the Eagles went three-and-out. Mathews didn't get another carry the rest of the half."
It is not helping that the Eagles are still trying to ride the arm of Bradford. The quarterback did not look great once again and when he did, his receivers simply could not come up with the ball. Dropped passes were the storyline in Week 7 for the team. Zach Ertz was the shining star while Miles Austin and josh huff continued to let balls slip by. The eagles have a lot to think about in the bye week as the clock is ticking to improve and take back control in the NFC East.