Brett Toth Was Man In Middle Of Eagles' Punishing Rushing Attack

PHILADELPHIA – All week, Brett Toth prepared to make his first career start at center, and he’s the kind of person when given too much time to think about something like that…well, it doesn’t help him.

Not like last week in Minnesota, when he came in cold to replace Cam Jurgens, who left with a knee injury and was unavailable to play Sunday against the New York Giants.

“Sometimes the best thing you can do is rip the band-aid off and go,” said the Eagles’ versatile offensive lineman. “I feel that was a big part of last week. There were plays I didn’t execute last week, but depending on the person, you think about things too long you might stress yourself out. That definitely happened a bunch for me this week.”

Toth will be the first to admit he made mistakes against the Giants, but he did enough well – very well – that the Eagles had two running backs go over 100 yards rushing for the first time in five years and pile up 276 yards rushing. Not just go over 100 yards rushing, but average more than 10 yards per carry.

Offensive Line Helps Running Backs Go Wild

That’s what Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby did, becoming the first Eagles running back duo to top 100 yards since Dec. 22, 2103, when LeSean McCoy (133) and Bryce Brown (115) did it against the Bears.

Nobody is suggesting that Toth replace Jurgens at center, but it’s worth mentioning that the running game was on another planet and Toth was the man in the middle of the offensive line.

In fairness, Jurgens’ health hasn’t been at 100 percent since the start of the season after having offseason back surgery. It has to make the Eagles feel better that, even after a week off due to their bye and Jurgens needs more time with the knee injury and for his back to get more rest, they have someone like Toth who can step in and perform like he did.

There was plenty of angst among the fan base and in the media about Toth starting at center when Drew Kendall was picked in the fifth round to be the team’s backup center. It turned out to be the right call by the Eagles coaches in going with Toth.

“Brett [Toth] taking full command up front, leading the way, you can't ask for anything more when he comes in and he does that,’ said quarterback Jalen Hurts. “He knows the game, he knows what we do.”

Toth started the first meeting against the Giants this season, doing so at left guard for Landon Dickerson, who missed the game with a bad ankle.

“They dominated us at their place,” said Toth. “I was at left guard for that, and I felt it. I didn’t do my job well enough. I can’t speak for the group as a whole, but I’m not really an emotional player, but for me, I saw my performance (in a 34-17 loss) and it pissed me off.”

Toth was happy after this one – some of the mistakes he mentioned aside. He was effective in pulling from his center spot, clearing lanes on the outside of the line and was able to get to the second level and make five-yard runs turn into 20-something gains.

Three of their top six Eagles plays were runs – a 65-yard burst by Barkley, a 29-yard run from Bigsby, a 28-yard jaunt by Barkley, and an 18-yard scamper by Bigsby.

“They’re studs,” said Toth. “I can think of one for Tank to where communication wasn’t the best up front and that’s on me and he picked a hole and shot it. He made something out of nothing. Glad he’s on our team, and Saquon’s always Saquon.

“I feel it gets written off, but he needs his flowers every damn week, even the past seven weeks where we haven’t been executing up front, he’s not gonna shy away from it. He’s the motivator and will tell us the next one is the one.”

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