Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles' DeMarco Murray sees just 14 snaps in Week 13 win

Published Dec. 7, 2015 9:16 a.m. ET

foxsports

Philadelphia Eagles running back DeMarco Murray saw a season-low 14 offensive snaps in the team's Week 13 35-28 win over the New England Patriots.

His previous low came in Week 4, when he had just 25 snaps against the Washington Redskins, but the game flow dictated that one. With the Eagles falling behind, they turned to their passing down backs. In Week 13, Murray's low snap count was part of the plan.

Head coach Chip Kelly explained that based on the matchup, it made more sense to use his smaller running backs -- Darren Sproles and Kenjon Barner. However, he also added that Sproles' ability to create positive plays consistently helped him stay on the field throughout the game.

"It's as big a group of linebackers as you're going to face," Kelly said, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. "And then we just kind of - as the game expressed itself - [went] with the hot hand. And we used all three. DeMarco had a big run on the inside zone on that 13-play drive."

Murray finished with just eight carries for 24 yards (3.0 yards per carry) and he was not targeted at all in the passing game. After the game, Murray deflected questions about his workload.

"You always want an opportunity to play and obviously run the ball," Murray said, "but we got the victory, so that's all that matters."

With 11 more total touches, Sproles picked up 70 more yards than Murray. Barner saw the same amount of snaps as Murray, but he finished with nine carries for 43 yards. With 170 total yards on the ground and in the air between all of their running backs, the Eagles had their most effective game in several weeks.