Why Eagles coordinator might take former boss’s advice to ‘run the ball’ against the Cowboys

During the 2023 NFL Tournament, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy spoke to reporters about the new direction of the offense following the team and its former offensive coordinator. Kellen Moorewho is now with Eaglesdecided to part ways after a disappointing season in which they lost in the division round to the San Francisco 49ers. McCarthy criticized Moore’s play during the season, saying it had a negative impact on the defense despite the offense finishing 11th overall with 354.9 yards per game.

“I was where Kellen was,” McCarthy said at the time, according to a Dallas Morning News reporter. Michael Gehlken. “Kellen wants to light up the scoreboard, but I want him to run the damn ball so I can rest my defense.”

Two seasons later, Moore leads the offense and runs the ball effectively, especially after the bye week. Backed by the league’s second-best rushing attack at 174.8 yards per game, Moore now has a chance to beat McCarthy and his old team for the first time when the Eagles and Cowboys meet Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.

When talking about the success of the run game, Moore said it was a result of the ability to gain yards on first and second downs through running. Saquon Barkley. According to Stathead, Barkley is averaging 5.8 yards per run on first downs this season (589 yards on 102 attempts) and 6.5 yards per run on second downs (287 yards on 44 attempts), effectively making third-down attempts more manageable. The Cowboys’ defense is tied for 14th in average yards allowed on the first drive (4.6 yards per rush) and 16th in average yards per rush on the second drive (4.4 yards per rush).

“When you run the football as well as we did in a couple of these games, not every time, but when we have success like that, hopefully we can build on that and continue to attack the defense the same way,” Moore said.

The run also opened up the passing game, with defenders taking a step or two closer to the line of scrimmage in an attempt to stop Barkley, opening up windows for the quarterback. Jalen Hurts throwing and giving to wide receivers AJ Brown And DeVonta Smith space to not only make the catch, but also gain yards after the catch that will lead to a big gain.

Working closely with McCarthy, Moore is careful to avoid predictability against someone he spent four seasons in the coaching room with. Moore has faced the Cowboys once before after leaving the team he played and coached for and faced them last season with the Los Angeles Chargers. Moore had 272 yards of offense in that game, but the Chargers were only able to gain 53 yards on the ground as the Cowboys scored 20–17. Hoping for a different outcome, Moore admits there will be closeness between the two, but it won’t matter much once the game starts.

“For a lot of coaches and players, they’re the same,” Moore said. “We’ve all worked together in some capacity, so we’re no different from a lot of guys who go to different places. Obviously there is familiarity. There’s some of that, but at the end of the day, once you get into the game, you play the game, and some of that will take care of itself. I’m excited about this opportunity because it’s a big division game and everything is so exciting.”

Moore also serves as a resource to help the defensive coordinator. Vic Fangio get ready to face quarterback Cooper Rush. Rush was forced to return to action after starter Dak Prescott injured his hamstring last Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. Moore knows Rush well, as the two were teammates for a season before Moore became the Cowboys’ defensive backs coach in 2018 and then offensive coordinator in 2019.

“Sometimes you can ask him about the quarterback,” Fangio said. “But he left there two years ago.” I’m sure things have changed.”

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Chris Franklin can be reached at: [email protected].