The Eagles went down to defeat against the Vikings last weekend and running back LeSean McCoy had just eight carries during the game.
In the Andy Reid years, this would be par for the course. Under Chip Kelly, though, McCoy has seen more work and, barring injury, will finish the year with his most carries in a single season. McCoy expressed no hard feelings about the play calling last week, but made it very clear that he’d like to pad that total against the Bears this weekend whether or not the Eagles can clinch the division in the aftermath of a Dallas loss.
“This is a big game for us, very big,” McCoy said, via the Philadelphia Daily News. “The Cowboys, they’ll do what they gotta do, but for us, Philadelphia, we’ve got to win this game ... I feel like this game, I want to put the offense on my back. I want to roll. I want to get goin’. I think me and the guys up front, we’ve got to set the tone. Once we do that, we can worry about the other teams. Right now, the big guys up front and myself, we need to put this game on our back, and take care of business.”
The Bears would seem to be the ideal team for the Eagles to face while feeding McCoy early and often. Their run defense has been ghastly all season and their offense has been a lot better over the course of the year than the Vikings unit that hung 48 points on the Eagles last weekend. The game may dictate that they do things a different way, but it’s a pretty good plan of attack for the Eagles in Week 16.