The Philadelphia Eagles made the decision to trade LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills this past offseason which absolutely shocked the fan base. He had been one of the best running backs in the league over the past couple of seasons, but Chip Kelly didn’t want him around anymore. DeMarco Murray was then signed soon after the trade to replace McCoy in the backfield for the Eagles.
Throughout the first few weeks of the season, Murray looked like an absolute bust. He was unable to get anything going and at one point had 21 carries for 11 yards. Murray finally broke out with a big game this past week against the New Orleans Saints in a blowout victory.
Against the Saints this past week, Murray ended up carrying the football 20 times for 83 yards and a touchdown. He also caught seven passes for 37 yards on the game as well.
Murray finally showed why Kelly decided to move on from McCoy and bring him on board. He still hasn’t touched the type of performances that he had last season with the Dallas Cowboys, but there is a good chance that he will continue improving as the season moves forward. This game was necessary for him to get back on track.
At 27 years old, Murray is in the prime of his career and should have least three or four good years left in him. Kelly’s offense is going to look much different with Murray back on track than it did in the first couple weeks of the season. Sam Bradford still turned the football over too much this past week against the Saints, but with Murray running he did look much more comfortable as well.
Philadelphia didn’t do a great job of getting the football into his hands where he likes it the most in the first couple weeks of the season. They didn’t do a great job of it last week against the Washington Redskins either.
Despite those facts, they seemed to get the hang of what makes him the most dangerous this past week. The offensive line will have to work a bit hard to open holes for him moving forward, but Murray is definitely beginning to look more comfortable in the offense. Getting used to Kelly’s offense isn’t easy, which has been obvious with almost any player that has played in it since he was hired by the Eagles.
Expect to see Murray continue improving each and every week and to break into the superstar that the Eagles were hoping he would be for their offense.
There is no denying the fact that Murray can be one of the best backs in the NFL as he showed last season. Once he gets 100 percent integrated into the offense he will be just fine. This past week was a huge step in the right direction and the Eagles’ fan base should get excited about Murray once again.
