Mike Davis was signed in the offseason to be the Atlanta Falcons number one running back, but he found very little running room in the Falcons 32-6 loss to the Eagles on Sunday.
Davis had 15 carries for 49 yards (3.3 avg.) and added three catches for 23 yards.
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The offensive line struggled to protect Matt Ryan in pass protection and failed to create holes in the running game in the second half. The Falcons finished the game with 124 yards rushing, but Atlanta ran for over 100 yards in the first half.
The normally charismatic Davis was significantly less energetic answering questions about the Falcons lack of success running the ball.
"We've just got to continue to improve. We did good in the first, second quarter as far as running the ball. Then after that, I can't tell you what happened," said Davis glumly.
The Falcons offensive line struggled with the Eagles defensive front. While much of the focus was on the play of rookie Jalen Mayfield at left guard, fourth-year right tackle Kaleb McGary was almost as bad.
Davis was quick to protect the linemen that he'll count on this season.
"Run blocking-wise, I think they did their thing," said Davis. "It's just something we've got to continue to improve on. We have Tampa coming up. We just gotta make sure we improve on every aspect, not even just the offensive line, I've got to improve as well."
The Falcons face the Buccaneers on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Tampa. Tampa only allowed 60 yards rushing to the Dallas Cowboys in their 31-29 win over Dallas last Thursday.
The Cowboys didn't commit to the run the same way the Falcons will. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott threw 58 times against Tampa, while Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan only threw 35 times against the Eagles.
The Falcons will need to establish the running game to keep Tom Brady and the Buccaneer offense off the field. A week after turning second-year Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts into former Eagles legend Randall Cunningham, they'll be facing Brady coming off a 379 yard, four touchdown performance against the Cowboys.
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