PHILADELPHIA (AP) — DeMarco Murray hurdled a Dallas defender and ran straight out of bounds, his left arm yanked on the sideline for seemingly no reason by kicker Dan Bailey.
Yes, even a kicker got his hands on Murray.
Murray snapped his arm back in agitation, one of the few times he was able to scamper away from any Cowboys.
Murray couldn’t find a hole, a yard or any sense of fulfillment in his first game against his former team. The Cowboys shut down Murray, the reigning NFL rushing champion, and beat the Philadelphia Eagles 20-10 on Sunday.
He’s been a bust so far for the 0-2 Eagles. Both Murray and the Eagles have to find a quick fix before the season completely unravels into a lost cause.
He had only had 9 yards rushing on eight carries in a 26-24 loss at Atlanta on Monday night. Against the Cowboys, a team that knows him better than any other, Murray rushed for 2 yards on 13 carries.
“We’ve got to look in the mirror, watch the film and be real critical of ourselves and each other,” Murray said.
Murray helped the Cowboys win the NFC East title, broke Emmitt Smith’s franchise record with a league-leading 1,845 yards rushing, and also set an NFL record with eight straight 100-yard games to open the season.
But the Cowboys didn’t reward him with a deal he wanted, so the Eagles lured him away with a $42 million, five-year contract in free agency.
He found in Philadelphia an offensive line that simply can’t block and gives Murray no room to create plays.
“That was the worst rushing attack I have ever been a part of here,” center Jason Kelce said. “Missed blocks are huge. I’d like to say they did something different than what we expected, but I don’t think they did.”
Sam Bradford had three turnovers, including an interception in the end zone. Philadelphia had 21 total yards in the first half and finished with 226.
The Eagles were favorites to take the NFC East title away from Dallas, but look more like a team that will contend for the top pick in the draft than the playoffs.
Chip Kelly is taking heat already — boos echoed all game throughout Lincoln Financial Field — for his decisions to jettison quarterback Nick Foles, running back LeSean McCoy and offensive guard Evan Mathis. The winless start with a game against the New York Jets on deck will only crank up the criticism.
“We’ve got to get it figured out,” Kelly said.
Kelly didn’t have a lot of answers or immediate solutions for what’s ailing the Eagles. He can start with the offensive line.
“We couldn’t get anything started,” he said. “I think the running backs even had time to assess if there was a hole.”
Wide receiver Dez Bryant was already sidelined after foot surgery for the Cowboys. Tony Romo joined him with a broken left collarbone and could miss a significant amount of time.
Romo was knocked out of the game in the third quarter when Jordan Hicks sacked him. Fletcher Cox recovered Romo’s fumble and Bradford drove the offense to the Cowboys 3 before Sean Lee intercepted his pass in the end zone.
The Eagles trailed 13-3 when Malcolm Jenkins picked up Gavin Escobar’s fumble and returned it to the Cowboys 30. But Bradford fumbled a shotgun snap on the next play and Nick Hayden recovered for Dallas.
Bradford threw another interception in the fourth quarter when the ball bounced off Zach Ertz’s hands and J.J. Wilcox picked it. Bradford was only 23 of 37 for 224 yards and two interceptions.
The Eagles had 7 yards rushing on 17 carries and no run longer than 9 yards. Heck, about the longest run all game was by a fan who almost crashed the huddle before he was tackled by Eagles cornerback Nolan Carroll.
“All I’m worried about is winning. I’m not worried about rushing yards,” Murray said.
NOTES: Eagles LB Kiko Alonso injured his left knee in the second quarter and didn’t return. Alonso missed last season after tearing his left ACL. LB Mychal Kendricks didn’t return after a hamstring injury. Kelly said he won’t have an update until Monday. … Romo’s NFL-record streak of 41 straight road games with a TD pass ended. … The Eagles are 0-2 for the first time since 2007.