Ryan Mathews is the lead back and was coming off a solid 77-yard opening-day rushing performance. Kenjon Barner is the change-of-pace back and turned four carries against the Browns into 42 yards. Wendell Smallwood is the explosive rookie who everybody wants to see more of.
 
So it came as something of a surprise the Eagles’ featured running back against the Bears was a 33-year-old punt returner who has one of the lowest rushing averages in the NFL over the last two seasons.
 
Darren Sproles led the Eagles Sunday with 12 carries, his second-most carries since 2010, but he averaged only 3.3 yards on those carries. In the first half, when he had five of the first seven carries Doug Pederson doled out, he was just 5 for 13.
 
Sproles is an electrifying punt returner, but he’s never gotten more than 5½ carries per game in his 12-year career. And at 33, he’s at an age where all backs invariably slow down.
 
So why was he the focal point of the running game Monday night?
 
“Just a change of pace a little bit,” Pederson said Tuesday. “It wasn't anything necessarily specific. We had a few specific runs for Darren in the gameplan, and, again, wanted to get him some touches early.”
 
Sproles has 17 carries for 52 yards this year, and his 3.1 average ranks 42nd out of 54 backs with 10 or more carries.
 
Over the last two years, he’s averaging 3.7 yards per carry, which ranks 46th out of 51 backs with 100 or more carries.
 
During the same span, Mathews is averaging 4.7 yards per carry, which is seventh-best in the league and fifth-best among running backs.
 
Mathews carried nine times for 32 yards Monday night in the 29-14 win over the Bears but had just three carries in the first 44 minutes. 

He also became only the third Eagles running back in the last 35 years with two rushing TDs in a game in which he had fewer than 10 carries. The others are Chris Polk and Charlie Garner.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Eagles didn't take command of the game until Mathews replaced Sproles as the featured back. His touchdown with 53 seconds left in the third quarter was only his fourth carry of the game and turned a two-point edge into a 16-7 lead.

From there, Mathews got the bulk of the carries and the lead quickly grew as large as 22 points.
 
Mathews ran 22 times for 77 yards against the Browns. Pederson said Mathews’ sore ankle was one of the reasons he was limited Monday night, but Mathews never appeared on the Eagles' injury report and did get six carries in the last 16 minutes of the game.
 
“Ryan all week was still hampered with the ankle from the week before so didn't want to necessarily put everything on his shoulders,” Pederson said.
 
“These first couple of weeks it's been that running back by committee a little bit. But, you know, Ryan's such a workhorse. You saw it in the second half of the game, he kind of took it over a little bit and made some nice, tough runs.
 
“But any time we can get Darren the ball early in a football game, it's something we'll try to do.”
 
The 12 carries Monday night were the fifth-most of Sproles’ career. He’s the third-oldest back in Eagles history to get 12 carries in a game. Dorsey Levens did three times in 2004 and Hall of Famer Ollie Matson twice in 1964.
 
In the last 25 years, only DeMarco Murray last year and Correll Buckhalter in 2001 have had a lower rushing average after two games than Sproles’ current 3.1 mark.
 
We think of Sproles as a big-play runner, but he doesn’t have a run from scrimmage over 15 yards in his last 17 games and doesn’t have a run over 27 yards in his last 32 games.
 
Sproles has never had more than 93 carries in a season, and that was back in 2009, when he was 26.
 
But Pederson said that even at 33 and with no history of averaging more than 5½ carries per game, Sproles can be a double-digit runner.
 
The most carries in Eagles history by a running back 33 or older is Matson’s 96 in 1964. Levens had 94 in 2004 and nobody else had 30.
 
“I think he could be 10 carries (per game),” Pederson said.
 
The Eagles are 2-0 with the Steelers coming to town Sunday, and there isn’t much that hasn’t worked for Pederson. He's done a terrific job handling all facets of his new job.
 
But the running game hasn't taken off. The Eagles rank just 21st in the NFL with 3.5 yards per carry with Sproles carrying a big chunk of the load.
 
Pederson has had all the answers so far, so it will be interesting to see how the carries are distributed moving forward.