Andy Reid Praises Howard Mudd, Eagles O-Line For Dallas Performance

There was a lot of praise to go around after last night's destruction of the Cowboys on national TV, but in all the talk about the superlative performances of LeSean McCoy and Michael Vick, we can't ignore how good the Eagles offensive line was. We highlighted the superb blocking in our video breakdown earlier, but Andy Reid had more praise for the line in his day after press conference this afternoon.

He was specifically asked about how the the two rookies, Jason Kelce & Danny Watkins, have grown and how the line is coming together overall.

"That was what I mentioned yesterday. I think it's just a matter of time, spending time and playing together. They did some good things yesterday, those two kids in particular, along with the rest of the guys. You pointed to those two, being the rookies, they're going against a good defensive line, I think one of the best defensive lines in the National Football League. I count the outside backers as part of that defensive line. I thought, all in all, they did a pretty good job."

And of course, he credits a lot of the success to the great Howard Mudd.

"I've known Howard for a couple years, and so I told you before, Juan and I both were kind of understudies to Howard, when we were college coaches. I knew what I was getting when Howard came here, it wasn't like it was a surprise. You're talking about one of the best offensive line coaches to have coached this game."

Speaking of Mudd, we think of him so much for the job his lines did protecting Peyton Manning and while this Eagles line has gotten quite good in pass protection this year, it's the job they've done in the run game that's been the surprise. Reid says that some of what they're doing with LeSean McCoy this year is directly attributable to Mudd's system.

"A couple of those runs, they're new that we're doing this year, and he's picked up the concepts very well. The rest of them are the same things he did last year. He was a pretty good running back last year too, so he's a talented kid. He's maturing, going through that maturing process you go through the longer you're in the league and the more opportunities you have to play."