LeSean McCoy has certainly not been shy about his feeling towards his former team, and their head coach since he was traded from Philadelphia to Buffalo way back on March 4th. LeSean McCoy implied Chip Kelly was racist after the trade, saying “Especially all the good black players. He got rid of them the fastest.”
I will be the first to admit I was not a fan of the trade at first. Kiko Alonso was one of the top linebackers in the league his rookie year, one of the most important positions in football. No disrespect to McCoy, who is also one of the best at his position, but it is much easier to replace a running back than a linebacker these days. Just look league leaders at the position this year, Latavius Murray is 4th in yards, has anyone heard of him before this season?
After a hamstring injury in training camp, and missing a few games at the beginning of the season, the trade looked like a mistake. However; since the Bills’ bye week Shady has gone over 100 all purpose yards every game. He has been nothing short of spectacular, turning no gain runs into big gains, catching the ball out of the backfield, and also blocking very well when asked to do so.
While on the other hand Alonso has struggled coming back from the knee injury. Alonso has missed five games this year due to injury, and really hasn’t performed well when healthy. Kiko only has 20 tackles and one interception this year, he had 159 tackles in a full healthy season with Buffalo. Makes you wonder if Alonso has full recovered from that knee injury, or if he will ever be the same player.
Just watch this run from McCoy on a big third down against the Jets near midfield. He should be stopped in the backfield by an unblocked Mohammed Wilkerson, one of the best defensive lineman in the league. A stiff arm gets him a little space, but then he evades four more tacklers who aren’t blocked to pick up the first down. I don’t think there is another back in the league who makes that play.
McCoy has been the reason for this offense being so good the past few weeks. Once he gets the running game going, Taylor has been able to use one on one match ups downfield to throw the deep ball successfully. The Eagles, with Alonso have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL, 26th to be exact. Shady is fired up to play in this one, and I don’t think the Eagles have the defense to stop him. An angry Shady who has been hot lately is not someone I would want to face.