Bob Ford, writing for the Inquirer:

“I like [Ryan Mathews] style in terms of how it fits what we’re doing,” Kelly said. “He’s a real decisive kind of one-cut runner. He sticks his foot in the ground and goes. He has to run through some arm tackles at times, and he did. He’s got size to go with his explosiveness. It’s not a make-you-miss thing. He’s got to be physical, and I thought he was physical in there.”

That was the stated reason for getting Murray, as well; that he wasn’t a dancer like LeSean McCoy and would knife through the holes. At least to this point, that hasn’t been the case, and now Murray is injured. If Mathews continues to perform, that’s fine, but when Murray comes back will Kelly keep handing him a majority of the workload?

And we have a running back controversy. Maybe.

Let me present to you three different narratives– all of which have some merit.

  1. LeSean McCoy experienced his best year as a pro with Chip Kelly because Kelly allowed him to get downhill blocking, which enhances his shiftiness, thus producing an all-world running back.
  2. DeMarco Murray is a better fit for Kelly’s zone run-based offense because he hits the hole quickly and decisively. He also falls forward better than any runner in the game.
  3. Behind the Eagles’ current line, which is not particularly great in run blocking through three games, Murray is a bad fit and Ryan Mathews, a sort of hybrid of Murray and McCoy, is the best option.

So, which is it?

I’ve championed all three, but mostly that second one. Murray, in theory, appears to be the best fit for Chip’s offense. But his success will be determined largely by how much push the line can get. In Dallas, it was a lot. Here? Not so much. Not yet, at least. Thus Murray, who is merely average at shaking defenders on his own, looked Michael Jaccson bad in his first two games as an Eagle. Mathews and Darren Sproles, in Week 3, looked better thanks to their ability to shake defenders, without McCoy’s tendency to tap dance in the backfield.

After going back and watching all of Mathews’ runs from yesterday, it’s obvious that he, too, struggled on the typical zone runs, where the holes collapsed, again, quickly. But he was able to gain 27, 11 and 5 yards, respectively, on plays where he made an early cut to get himself to the second level. We haven’t yet seen that ability from Murray.

It’s an interesting question, which we won’t know the answer to for some time. Murray is a better back, even though Mathews is starter caliber. But the offensive line will have to improve drastically for Murray to be successful.

And then there’s Sam Bradford, who requires another post.