Philadelphia Eagles Rain On LeSean McCoy’s Parade

LeSean McCoy returned to Lincoln Financial field for the first time since his trade to Buffalo with revenge on his mind, and love in his heart.

All week, I heard about how amped up the Buffalo Bills were, how good their offensive line is and how the Bills’ defense was going to rip through the Philadelphia Eagles. Realistically, only one of those statements were true. McCoy and the Bills were plenty excited to play this game, but the offensive line couldn’t hold back the Eagles’ front seven, and the defense handled the Eagles, but very little ripping to note. More like tiny tares through cardboard.

McCoy didn’t set Philly ablaze, but he definitely let everyone know what they were missing. Or made those who do miss him, just miss him more. Especially when CBS kept comparing him to DeMarco Murray.

Nice job CBS.

McCoy played like his classic self; dancing in the backfield, making people miss, and lining up as a wide-out for a couple of deep shots. With all the players involved finally on the same field, the McCoy-Alonso trade felt all the more lopsided. Kiko Alonso still isn’t the superstar Philly needs him to be. The linebacker hasn’t been right since returning from his injury this season, and his mistakes the last few weeks have been costly. The talent is still buried within him, we just haven’t seen all of it.

“Fletcher Cox is the best interior lineman not named J.J. Watt this season…”

Things weren’t all bad. Not at all. Honestly, this is one of the few games were there were positives than negatives. The Eagles defense showed up for the second straight week. For the first time since the days-of-Dawkins, the Eagles can rely on their defense. I’ve been banging this drum since the beginning of the season; the Eagles have a Top-5 caliber front seven.

Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox were harassing Tyrod Taylor all day. They consistently got pressure on the QB and did an even better job of keeping the Bills’ running backs in-check. I don’t know who was trying to block Cox, but it wasn’t happening. The poor lineman isn’t worth looking up because Cox owns him now. Hell, at one point he made them look like a bunch of clowns. “Them” being the double-team that were doing their best to contain Cox. He owns them too. They too can remain nameless.  CBS commentator, Solomon Wilcots, said it best, “Fletcher Cox is the best interior [defensive] lineman not named J.J. Watt this season…” Cox isn’t going to steal the “Defensive Player of the Year” title away from Watt just yet, but he certainly deserves to be in the discussion.

This win keeps the first place race in the NFC East going strong. “Strong” isn’t really the best word. Which means the Eagles may be getting hot at the time. I know, I know…that’s a bit of a stretch, but you need two things in December to make a run to (and in) the playoffs: you need a defense you can rely, and you need to be able to run the ball. The defense has been playing lights out again (similar to where they were six weeks ago) and although the Eagles haven’t exactly locked down their RB rotation, they certainly have the ability to run the ball. Philly’s remaining schedule doesn’t get any easier though. After facing the Arizona Cardinals next week, they have to finish out the season against division rivals. Likely for the division.

Final note — LeSean McCoy’s move of kneeling at 50-yard line and kissing the Eagle. Look, I know the guy hasn’t shown high levels of maturity, and has seemed like a bit of an idiot recently, but he didn’t pretend to pee on the Eagle, or grind his foot into its face, he kissed it. He loved Philadelphia and their fans, as well as the team. Still does. You can’t blame him for being bitter.