McCoy shows his old form against Titans

LeSean McCoy wanted to know whether he was cocky.

The running back was walking to the podium after the Eagles' 43-24 win over the Titans when he stopped a reporter and asked, "Do you think I'm too cocky? Of all the players you have known, would you put me in the top 10?"

You bet.

McCoy was in a playful mood. He had just rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, and even a sarcastic remark a few moments later at the start of his news conference elicited a laugh from the tailback.

McCoy had just taken his place behind the lectern normally reserved for the coach, the quarterback, and a standout offensive player following victories, and he looked at the stand as if he'd never seen one before.

"This is what: big, tall?" McCoy said.

"You haven't been there in a while."

McCoy chuckled with the rest of the room. "Game on," he joked.

His relationship with the media hasn't been so jovial this season. McCoy had increasingly bristled over questions about his uncharacteristic performance - at least in terms of numbers - this season.

Asked on Wednesday whether he thought he was the same player, McCoy was taken aback.

"Am I the same player? That's for you to figure out. That's crazy," McCoy said just before he walked off the dais at the NovaCare Complex. "Am I the same player? I am the same player."

He sure looked it on Sunday. The Titans entered the game with the league's second-worst run defense, in terms of yards per game, and they often looked it against the Eagles. McCoy took advantage of open holes and won a handful of one-on-one opportunities once he hit the second level of Tennessee's defense.

In the second quarter, McCoy ran to his left, gave a defender one of his patented shimmy moves, and gobbled up 53 yards for his longest carry of the season. Chip Kelly kept calling for runs to the left behind tackle Jason Peters, and McCoy gained 111 yards and a touchdown on 15 rushes to the left.

The Eagles coach said the disproportionate number of rushes to the left was because of the Titans' defense, but several offensive linemen said the game plan involved attacking the left side and running away from defensive tackle Jurrell Casey.

"We were trying to go away from [Casey]," tackle Lane Johnson said. "He's probably one of their best players. We'd run over to the left a lot, and every now and then come back to his side and run inside zone and double team him to the back with me and [Andrew] Gardner."

Gardner was making his first start at right guard ahead of Matt Tobin, which may have been another reason Kelly wanted to ride on the backs of Peters and left guard Evan Mathis. But Kelly definitely wanted to get the Titans out of their comfort zone early.

Tennessee coordinator Ray Horton likes to employ an aggressive, zone-blitzing defense that allows him to use his nickel personnel. But when the Eagles gashed the Titans' smaller unit on the ground in their "Zebra" package (three wideouts), Horton had to go to his base package.

McCoy had 100 yards rushing by the half as the Eagles built a 27-17 lead.

"They're not used to running vs. 'Zebra' personnel all game long," Eagles center Jason Kelce said. "And then all of a sudden these big guys are getting tired and their secondary is struggling to match up. . . . If they would have stayed in nickel, we would have kept running the ball down their throat."

Kelly increased the tempo in the middle of the second quarter on a 10-play drive. Only an injury to Titans safety Michael Griffin slowed the pace, but three plays later, McCoy slashed into the end zone from 2 yards out. Casey, who had faced Kelly's Oregon teams while at Southern Cal, said he wasn't gassed.

"I think they are a little bit slower than what I saw while he was [at Oregon]," Casey said.

Nevertheless, the Eagles offensive line won many matchups up front. As important as McCoy's outburst was to him, it might be even more significant for the line with a difficult three-game stretch, starting with a Thanksgiving showdown in Dallas, looming.

They've watched McCoy take the bullets even though injuries on the line and their own faults have contributed just as much to the run-game struggles.

"I think a lot of things have been made out in the media that have been a little bit of an insult to him," Kelce said. "Quite frankly, LeSean is the same guy he's always been. He's just been waiting for us to really get going."

McCoy, despite his confidence, has looked hesitant at times behind the patchwork line. He might have boasted that he was a better running back than Adrian Peterson or that 2,000 yards was conceivable this offseason, but he can only be as effective as his blockers.

"Obviously you guys and everyone else are going to make their own opinions and write what they want, so I am fine with that," McCoy said. "As long as the guys in the locker room, they know what's up. . . . If the running game isn't going, I'll take the blame or whatever. It doesn't matter as long as we are winning games."

That's not cocky. That's confident.

Sunday's rushing stats:

21 carries, 130 yards,

one TD, 6.2-yard average per carry.

After 11 games, here is how LeSean McCoy's numbers compare to last season's:

2014      2013

217   Attempts   213

859   Yards   969

4.0   Average   4.5

3   TDs   5

3   100-yard   4

games

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@Jeff_McLane