McCoy, Peters Named Pro Bowlers
Dec 22, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy (25) celebrates scoring a touchdown during the third quarter against the Chicago Bears at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The Eagles got two players named to the Pro Bowl Friday evening: LeSean McCoy and Jason Peters.
McCoy leads the NFL with 1,476 yards. Among the 30 running backs who have totaled at least 150 carries, only DeMarco Murray (5.4) has a higher yards-per-carry average than McCoy (5.1). His eight runs of 20+ yards are tied for third-most, and McCoy has only fumbled once, despite leading the league in carries (287).
McCoy has also piled up 51 catches for 536 yards. He’s averaging 10.5 yards per reception.
Peters has had a good year coming back from from an Achilles’ injury that sidelined him for all of 2012. This is the sixth time Peters has earned Pro Bowl honors.
“This is really special,” Peters said in a release from the team. “Two Achilles’ surgeries, people thought I wasn’t going to even be able to play football again – the doctors – especially after the second one. They didn’t think I was going to be able to play at a high level. They maybe thought that I could come back and play, but not at a high level. So I never took it for granted. Every year, I try to work to make the Pro Bowl. And I just know, if I’m working to make the Pro Bowl the team is going to succeed. If I’m playing good, the guys beside me are playing good and as a team we’re going to play good. So any time you make the Pro Bowl, you have other players around you that’s going to be playing good as well.”
Said McCoy: “I know he’s happy because he kept calling me. ‘Hey, have they called you yet? Do you know what’s going on?’ I’m like, ‘No, man. I don’t know.’ This is the first year he’s acted like that so this is big for him. I know it is. He kept asking me, ‘Do you know who made it?’ He kept calling me and he never does that.”
Meanwhile, there were several Eagles who had a case to make the team but were left off. Nick Foles leads the league in passer rating (118.8) and yards per attempt (9.03). Barring a 4-INT game against Dallas, he will become just the second QB in NFL history with 25+ touchdowns and five or fewer interceptions. But he got passed over for Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Cam Newton, Philip Rivers and Russell Wilson. Foles has been named a first alternate.
DeSean Jackson is one of three wide receivers (Calvin Johnson and Josh Gordon are the others) who are in the top-10 in receiving yards and yards per catch. But he was not one of the eight receivers chosen: Antonio Bryant, Dez Bryant, Gordon, A.J. Green, Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall and Demaryius Thomas.
Center Jason Kelce and guard Evan Mathis also had strong cases. Mathis has played at a high level for three straight seasons, and Kelce has played well after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year.
Jackson and Mathis have been named second alternates.
Other Eagles who were at least in the conversation were DeMeco Ryans, Fletcher Cox and Donnie Jones.
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