PHILADELPHIA — Depending on the vision of the next Philadelphia Eagles head coach , the team likely has all the pieces to feature the power running attack few fans dared to dream of during Andy Reid's 14 seasons.
Heck, that much became evident before halftime of last Monday night's loss to the Carolina Panthers in which an offense at less than half strength attempted to take pressure off rookie quarterback Nick Foles by running more with rookie running back Bryce Brown.
Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg would be lying if they said they could have realistically envisioned what Brown, who never even started in college, was able to accomplish in just 23 touches, many of them breathtaking.
Showing a stronger explosion toward the line and faster acceleration after getting through it than concussed veteran LeSean McCoy, Brown nearly matched all of McCoy's single-game career bests in his first career start. If he wouldn't have lost two fumbles, one of them a bad call that would have been reversed on replay had Reid challenged it, we would be talking about an all-time first-time start.
As it is, Brown compared very favorably to McCoy.
His longest run: a 65-yard touchdown. McCoy's longest career run: 66.
His rushing total for the game: 178 (on 19 carries). McCoy's single-game career high: 185 (on 30 carries).
His total yards from scrimmage: 189 (on 23 touches). McCoy's single-game career high: 200 (on 32 touches).
Finally, Brown's 9.4 yards per carry average was higher than McCoy's personal best of 8.1, set in last year's season opener.
Now, is Brown a better running back than LeSean McCoy? Of course not. And, it should be noted Brown accomplished this against the Panthers, who rank 25th of 32 NFL teams against the rush.
We have no idea yet if he's injury-prone; if his work in the pass protection and receiving game is up to NFL standards; if he can't stop fumbling; if he can be as consistent and tough as McCoy or even if he'll be as interested in any of the above. After all, he walked away from the game once before, as a college player.
But his upside is higher than McCoy's. He has the skill and, from what we can tell so far, the will.
"I'm excited, ready to get back out there," Brown said." Anxious, really desperate for a win. That's what I really, really want to get.
"That [first start] gave me confidence, so I think that's going to help. I know that I can play, I know that I can contribute. Coach is going to rely on me and Dion [Lewis] to kind of take the pressure off of Nick a little bit. So we've got to prepare and be ready for it."
Brown's only legitimate fumble last Monday came when he was fighting for extra yards, not that it matters. But he viewed it more as a fluke.
"Fumbling isn't a habit that I have," he said. "That's not something that I normally do. I've just got to be cautious and be more careful. It's football; things are going to happen. Just go in this week and know that guys are going to be after the ball this game."
Mornhinweg basically agrees.
"I will tell you that Bryce does not go down easy," he said. "He's a very physical, hard runner. It's a little bit more risk with the ball, and he has to understand that and take care of that thing when he's grinding it for extra yards. It's as simple as that.
"You discuss it, you drill it, you discuss it more, and then you drill it more. There is no substitute for league games, however. It's just different that way. I would think most backs learn the hard way. ... He's learned and we're moving on. I suspect that he'll do a good job taking care of the ball."
The bigger question is whether Mornhinweg and Reid have learned and will move on. What will be interesting, even more than the quarterback situation, will be how they play it when McCoy returns from his concussion.
