Eagles Still Not Much on the Ground : Despite Acquiring Earnest Jackson, They Rank 24th in Rushing

Earnest Jackson led the AFC in rushing last season but so far he has failed to lead the Philadelphia Eagles ground attack back to respectability.

Jackson gained 1,179 yards for the San Diego Chargers last year but was traded to the Eagles right before the start of the season for two draft choices. The Eagles, who had the worst rushing game in the NFL last season and had already traded Wilbert Montgomery, the leading rusher in team history, hoped they had found the help they needed.

Jackson started slowly, as he became familiar with a new conference, and it didn’t help that the Eagles evolved from a one-back to a two-back offense after he arrived. After nine games, he’s gained only 477 yards and the Eagles’ running game is 24th in the league, averaging only 95.7 yards per contest.

Jackson, who is averaging 3.4 yards per carry compared to 4.0 last season, says he’s not being used any differently by Philadelphia.

“It’s the same thing, the same way I was being used last year,” he said. “They use me for the run and take me out for the pass. It’s basically just the same things I’ve been doing all the time.”

But the results have certainly not been the same.

After gaining 107 yards on 25 attempts against New Orleans and 111 yards on 37 tries against St. Louis, a game in which Jackson had 103 yards for his only 100-yard game, the Eagles have slumped to 55, 38, and 61 yards on the ground while the number of rushing attempts has fallen to 25, 15 and 16.

Eagles coach Marion Campbell said the reason for the decline is simple--Philadelphia fell behind early in all three games and had to go to the pass.