EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — All week, you heard about the Jets' stout defense and the Eagles' struggling run game. Then the Eagles' starting running back went down with a hamstring injury that kept him out of the game.
And yet through it all, this was the game the Eagles found a groove running the football.
Ryan Mathews stepped in for injured DeMarco Murray on Sunday at MetLife Stadium and rushed 25 times for 108 yards in his first start as an Eagle. Mathews also caught a 23-yard wheel route for a touchdown.
Darren Sproles, who did his most damage on special teams, also scored on the ground, banging it in from one yard out to give the Eagles a three-score advantage in the first half.
It was the bounce-back game the Eagles' running backs and offensive line so desperately needed after netting just 70 rushing yards in the first two weeks.
"We knew it was going to be on the O-line," right tackle Lane Johnson said after the Eagles' 24-17 win. "We heard all the negativity. It's on us. We had to step up. It's a big step from last week, but it's still not where it needs to be, but we're making improvements. We knew our backs were against the wall this week. We knew we had to get some type of ground game going, which we did."
"Huge, huge," QB Sam Bradford said of the addition of a running game. "It was very important in the first half to get those guys rolling. I thought the line did a great job opening holes. That's a good front seven we just played, and to be able to come out and run the ball the way we did in the first half, that's really big for us."
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The Eagles changed things up a bit. They ran more from under center after failing so many times out of the shotgun in losses to Atlanta and Dallas. They also finally found success on those shotgun sweeps, the outside zone runs that Eagles fans have spent the month of September cursing.
Murray had been contacted at or behind the line of scrimmage on 10 of his 21 carries this season, many of which came a few yards behind the line because he was first touching the ball on a shotgun run. Those plays worked a lot in Chip Kelly's first two years leading the Eagles, but defenses have caught on by utilizing run blitzes that blow the play up in the backfield.
"We really just got back to basics in terms of what we were doing run-wise," Kelly said. "Ryan hit it in there a few times. I like his style in terms of how it fits what we're doing. [The Jets have] some big bodies up front so we had to get outside a little bit more, run some outside zone just trying to get away from those big bodies.
"In the first half, we got it going. In the second half, they had more guys in the box, we had a big lead, everybody knows we're gonna run the ball to run the clock a little bit. We've got to be better in that aspect."
As for the decrease in snaps out of shotgun, Bradford said he thought it may have been designed to utilize Mathews' strengths running the ball. Murray has a lot of those same strengths, so that reason is at least a little puzzling.
Center Jason Kelce joked after the game that he knew why the Eagles ran more from under center than they did previously but couldn't reveal the reasons.
Here was Johnson's take: "Tried to create some confusion. Most times they're either going to blitz the back — they know where the back is or where the play is going, so under center is a little more difficult for them to identify that."
The Eagles' offense veered off course in the second half, totaling just 53 yards and failing to score a point. They were comfortably ahead and had pretty much eschewed the aerial attack, which made plays easier for the Jets to diagnose.
That lack of killer instinct didn't come back to bite the Birds Sunday, but it very well could next time. The Jets had numerous chances in Eagles territory to cut into the deficit, but timely interceptions by rookie LB Jordan Hicks and safety Walter Thurmond prevented a Jets comeback.
Even though Mathews and Sproles racked up a combined 125 yards on the ground, Kelly would have liked to see more in the second half.
"It was something we have to get better at: We have to run the ball when everyone knows we're gonna run the ball," Kelly said. "We just got behind schedule. We'd have a big gain on 1st-and-10 and then not have the play selection on second down to get us that first first down. A lot of that falls on my shoulders to get us calling the right plays."
Two of the Eagles' starting linemen went down against the Jets and did not return. Right guard Andrew Gardner left midway through with a foot injury. All-Pro left tackle Jason Peters exited in the fourth quarter. No reason was given for Peters' absence, but Kelly said after the game that Peters "looked happy in the locker room," which is a good sign.
The Eagles will definitely need Peters upright if they're going to build off this performance.
"They battled," Kelly said of the O-line. "With Leonard Williams and (Quinton) Coples and Muhammad Wilkerson, that's a really formidable group that you're playing against. I thought they battled, and against a really good front."