So that's what happens when an offensive line does its job.
Thirty-nine points and 519 total yards.
"I thought that was the key," head coach Chip Kelly said of his O-line Sunday after the Eagles hammered the Saints, 39-17 (see Instant Replay).
What took so long?
"A little bit of a lot of things," center Jason Kelce said. "Finally an offensive line got together and really all got on the same page, especially toward the end. I think we finally saw some runs where there wasn't a player screwing up and ruining the whole play."
Kelce was in a much better mood than he was this time last week, when he called the line a "disgrace."
"I think everybody has obviously been ashamed of the way we've been playing," he said.
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"The biggest difference between this game was the offensive line executed. We gave Sam time to throw for the most part and we gave the backs room to make plays. If we do that, it’s going to be very, very hard for any defense to stop us. … We’ve had a lot of questions surrounding us not just from the media, but I think with how poorly we’ve played, from our own team. We put a lot of effort in to get this fixed."
DeMarco Murray finally finished with a stat line expected of last year's rushing champ: 20 rushes for 83 yards and a touchdown. He also had a team-high seven catches for 37 yards.
Ryan Mathews made the most of his eight carries, fighting off Saints tacklers for 73 yards — a gaudy 9.1 per pop — and Darren Sproles chipped in with 27 yards on five carries (see 10 observations).
"It feels good," tackle Lane Johnson said. "Nothing's been wrong with the running backs — it's always been the O-line not making holes. It felt normal today, compared to what it has been."
The line also kept the Saints off Sam Bradford, who after meeting with the offense before the game completed 32 of 45 passes for 333 yards (more on Bradford's meeting here). He rebounded from two early, awful interceptions to throw two touchdowns.
After being sacked five times in last week's loss at Washington, Bradford wasn't sacked Sunday.
"Man, those guys were unbelievable today," Bradford said.
The Eagles, believe it or not, also won the time of possession category, 34:02 to 25:58, and ran 79 plays, 10 more than the Saints.
"This is what we needed," Kelce said. "We finally get some confidence. We get some stuff on film that we feel good about. ... Finally we're like, 'Hey, if we go out there and we play like this every single week, we'll win games.' That's really good to finally have."
Even more impressive is the fact that the line flourished with both Johnson (knee, ankle) and Jason Peters (quad) playing through injuries.
Not that they had a choice.
"I was just telling Lane, they need us," Peters said. "Ain’t no sense in us sitting out. If we’re 50, 60 percent, we still have to go. We've got to stop this slide, this mudslide. We just have to get out there and show what we can do."
Peters said he feels "OK" and benefitted from extra rest last week. He didn't practice Tuesday or Wednesday after practicing every day the previous week. Johnson said his injuries "nag" but are "nothing serious" and that he "felt good out there."
All five Eagles offensive linemen played all 84 offensive snaps.
Johnson was also thankful the Eagles have an extra day to prepare for next Monday night's game against the first-place Giants, who moved to 3-2 Sunday night by rallying to beat the 49ers. At 2-3, the Eagles are tied with the Cowboys and Redskins (see standings).
But they're also the only team in the NFC East without a victory over a division foe.
"It's a division opponent. We've gotta win," Johnson said. "We didn't win against the Cowboys or the Redskins, so it's a must-win for us."