The Departed: LeSean McCoy Returns
When Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy was bugged by injuries in late September, early reports suggested he would miss the entire month of October recovering.
But on Sunday, McCoy was in the lineup for the Bills as they faced the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals stayed undefeated with a 34-21 victory, but McCoy had his best game in the blue and red, taking 17 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown.
“McCoy was back to his cut-on-a-dime ways Sunday, leaving Cincinnati defensive linemen gasping for air on multiple runs,” wrote Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News. “He busted loose for 33 yards on his first carry.”
Dunne wrote that McCoy avoided a few lost-yardage plays, including turning a broken play into a seven-yard gain, as he so often did in his first few years with the Eagles.
“With so much injury and uncertainty at quarterback and receiver, McCoy looks like one sure thing,” Dunne wrote. “The 27-year-old can still gain the corner.”
Through four games this year, McCoy has carried the ball 60 times for 236 yards, an average of 3.9 yards per carry, and one touchdown, while catching nine passes for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Here’s a roundup of how the rest of the Eagles’ offseason departures are faring with their new teams after six weeks.
Nick Foles will look to bounce back from a porous outing against the Packers after the Rams’ bye week, writes ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.
Foles and the Rams have been in position to win four of their five games so far, coming away with victories against NFC West division foes Seattle and Arizona but falling short despite opportunities against Pittsburgh and Green Bay. While you’d be hard-pressed to find any player who will say the bye week comes at a bad time, Foles would probably be the first to say that the Rams’ bye last week came at an ideal time.
The Rams’ week 5 loss to the Packers was Foles’ worst NFL game, a combination of his own mistakes, receiver miscues and an offensive line that allowed the Packers to batter him to the tune of three sacks and 12 quarterback hits on 33 drop backs. Foles threw four interceptions, two more than he’d thrown in any of his previous 32 career games. Foles’ 1.5 QBR was also the worst of his career amongst games in which he’s thrown more than one pass.
Jeremy Maclin suffered a concussion in the Chiefs’ 16-10 loss to the Vikings on Sunday, writes Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said receiver Jeremy Maclin and defensive end Mike DeVito each left the game with concussions.
“Both have concussions and will be evaluated and will go through the concussion protocol,” Reid said.
DeVito was injured late in the second quarter, while Maclin was injured early in the fourth quarter.
After spending several moments on the ground, Maclin rose to his feet and started walking to the sideline, only to sink back down to one knee halfway there. He was assisted to the sideline shortly thereafter by the team’s medical personnel.
Cary Williams and Seattle’s vaunted Legion of Boom is looking more like the Legion of Whom?, writes The Olympian’s John McGrath.
“It’s very frustrating,” said [Earl] Thomas, “especially when you know we had them. We don’t suck. We know who we are.”
And we know who they aren’t.
They aren’t the intimidators who gave the league’s best defense a swashbuckling identity. They aren’t the guys who didn’t so much keep up with receivers as smother them.
Most of all, they aren’t to be feared. Refusing to settle for the tie that would extend the game into overtime wasn’t really a decision by [Ron] Rivera, because decisions imply either/or options.
Through six weeks, Trent Cole and the Colts have struggled to put any pressure on opposing quarterbacks, writes Grantland’s Bill Barnwell.
The players [Ryan] Grigson acquired to aid in the pass rush have been disasters: 2013 first-rounder Bjoern Werner was inactive last night, as he was in last season’s AFC Championship Game against this same team.
And offseason free-agent acquisition Trent Cole has been anonymous, with zero sacks and just one quarterback hit through five games in Indy.