Howard Mudd's offensive lines have always been considered athletic. That adjective can be considered offensive in a hard-as-nails city like Philadelphia.
But after the offensive line dismantled the Cowboys defense last Sunday night, words like dominating and physical need to be incorporated into the mix. The Eagles churned out 239 yards on the ground against what was the league's No. 1-ranked run defense in Dallas. The Eagles totaled 495 yards against the Cowboys and it was the fourth straight game in which the offense gained at least 400 total yards.
It was the first time that the five men who were originally slated to play on the offensive line back in the preseason started. Left tackle Jason Peters returned after missing two games with a hamstring injury. Right guard Danny Watkins now has three starts under his belt and has been physically imposing since being inserted into the starting lineup.
As good as the line was last Sunday, right tackle Todd Herremans, the unsung hero of the entire team, believes that there is still room to grow. Herremans points out how the linemen have adjusted to Howard Mudd's scheme and all of the new personnel this offseason.
"It gave us a baseline to work off of. We still had mistakes throughout the game. Technique wasn't completely sound. We were able to get by with it and you see how productive we can be when we put our mind to it," Herremans said. "It felt good and I don't expect us to take a step back from here. We should only get better."
Herremans and others state they have played at that high a level at other times this season, but costly mistakes and penalties would ruin the effort.
"We've always seen that we had the capabilities of it. It's just been collectively putting together an effort for a whole game and not making mistakes. Sunday night was the first night we did that," center Jason Kelce said. "Now that we know what it takes, we just have to build off of that."
If the Eagles offensive line can repeat the same feat on Monday night, against an active Bears front four that includes one of the best defensive ends in football in Julius Peppers, it will continue to re-define the perception of a line that is coached by a man who missed no time despite hip replacement surgery mid-season.
"We don't need any credit. We still have a long way to go. We can be way better than the way we're playing. We still see a lot of things on film that we can still correct and refine," guard Evan Mathis said. "We have to keep that mentality moving forward. This is our starting point. We know that we must continue every week and the sky's the limit for us if we do that."
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